The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004

Brazil's Gini coefficient rose from 0.57 in 1981 to 0.63 in 1989, before falling back to 0.56 in 2004. Poverty incidence rose from 0.30 in 1981 to 0.33 in 1993, before falling to 0.22 in 2004. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the determinants of Brazil's distributional re...

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Main Authors:	Ferreira, Francisco H.G., Leite, Phillipe G., Litchfield, Julie A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions D310 Price Level Inflation Deflation E310 Analysis of Education I210 Education: Government Policy I280 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity R120 Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional Migration Regional Labor Markets Population Neighborhood Characteristics R230
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5727

id	okr-10986-5727
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-57272021-04-23T14:02:23Z The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004 Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Leite, Phillipe G. Litchfield, Julie A. Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions D310 Price Level Inflation Deflation E310 Analysis of Education I210 Education: Government Policy I280 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity R120 Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional Migration Regional Labor Markets Population Neighborhood Characteristics R230 Brazil's Gini coefficient rose from 0.57 in 1981 to 0.63 in 1989, before falling back to 0.56 in 2004. Poverty incidence rose from 0.30 in 1981 to 0.33 in 1993, before falling to 0.22 in 2004. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the determinants of Brazil's distributional reversal over this period. The rise in inequality in the 1980s appears to have been driven by increases in educational attainment in a context of convex returns, and by high and accelerating inflation. Although the secular decline in inequality, which began in 1993, is associated with declining inflation, it also appears to have been driven by four structural and policy changes, namely, declining returns to education; pronounced rural-urban convergence; increases in social assistance transfers targeted to the poor; and a possible decline in racial inequality. Falling inequality has made a substantial contribution to poverty reduction. 2012-03-30T07:34:14Z 2012-03-30T07:34:14Z 2008 Journal Article Macroeconomic Dynamics 13651005 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5727 EN CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Publications & Research :: Journal Article Publications & Research Brazil
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions D310 Price Level Inflation Deflation E310 Analysis of Education I210 Education: Government Policy I280 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity R120 Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional Migration Regional Labor Markets Population Neighborhood Characteristics R230
spellingShingle	Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions D310 Price Level Inflation Deflation E310 Analysis of Education I210 Education: Government Policy I280 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity R120 Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional Migration Regional Labor Markets Population Neighborhood Characteristics R230 Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Leite, Phillipe G. Litchfield, Julie A. The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004
geographic_facet	Brazil
description	Brazil's Gini coefficient rose from 0.57 in 1981 to 0.63 in 1989, before falling back to 0.56 in 2004. Poverty incidence rose from 0.30 in 1981 to 0.33 in 1993, before falling to 0.22 in 2004. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the determinants of Brazil's distributional reversal over this period. The rise in inequality in the 1980s appears to have been driven by increases in educational attainment in a context of convex returns, and by high and accelerating inflation. Although the secular decline in inequality, which began in 1993, is associated with declining inflation, it also appears to have been driven by four structural and policy changes, namely, declining returns to education; pronounced rural-urban convergence; increases in social assistance transfers targeted to the poor; and a possible decline in racial inequality. Falling inequality has made a substantial contribution to poverty reduction.
format	Journal Article
author	Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Leite, Phillipe G. Litchfield, Julie A.
author_facet	Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Leite, Phillipe G. Litchfield, Julie A.
author_sort	Ferreira, Francisco H.G.
title	The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004
title_short	The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004
title_full	The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004
title_fullStr	The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004
title_full_unstemmed	The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004
title_sort	rise and fall of brazilian inequality: 1981-2004
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5727
_version_	1764396103399112704

The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004

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