Personal Income Distribution within States and Income Inequalities between States in Brazil : 1960, 70, 80 and 1991

The paper deals with regional income inequalities in Brazil, incorporating the personal distribution of income within regions. A series of inequality indicators is presented and computed for four different census years, allowing for the analysis of the trends in regional inequalities in Brazil. A decomposition of total inequality into two components is presented: "personal" (within states) and "regional" (among states). Regional income inequality in Brazil decreased sharply between 1960 and 1980 but either decreased at a lower rate or even increased between 1980 and 1991. The results also indicate that the "personal" component of income inequality in Brazil accounts for at least 60% of total inequality for the whole period, whereas the "personal" component accounts for at most 40%