Income polarization in Brazil

• Grant number: 12/07253-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Social Welfare Economics
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Guilherme Dácar da Silva Scorzafave
• Grantee: Lenise Gonçalves Barbosa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto (FEARP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to study income polrarization in the Brazilian case. For this purpose, we will calculate the polarization measure proposed by Esteban, Gradin and Ray (2007). There is some inovations in the project, if compared with existing studies in Brazil. First, the individuals will be divided into four and five groups (A, B, C, D and E income groups), that allows a more refined analysis of people by income classes. The database that will be used is "Pesquisa Nacional por Amostras de Domicílio" (PNAD), produced by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (in portuguese: IBGE). The analysis will comprise the period between 1981-2009. The temporal evolution of polarization will allow the study of the evolution of each class size, in particular the classes C, D and E. The results will also be compared with other countries for which this measure has also been calculated.