Using retrospective simulations, we examine whether educational expansions in the past could have reduced earnings inequality and income poverty in Brazil. We use data from three censuses and 35 national household surveys (PNAD). The simulations indicate that there are important limitations to...

Using a factor decomposition of the Gini coefficient we measure the contribution to inequality of direct monetary income flows to and from the Brazilian State. The income flows from the State include public servants' earnings, Social Security pensions, unemployment benefits and Social Assistance...

To deal with the problem of underestimation of top incomes in household surveys, we propose a methodology to combine the income distributions of the Brazilian 2010 Census (survey) and of 2010 DIRPF (personal income tax reports). The method consists on estimating a system of non-response weights...

We review the literature on the rich, the affluent and the top incomes earners focusing on the determinants of affluence or richness. The review surveys empirical results about the composition of the income and wealth of the rich and its direct determinants, such as individual characteristics,...