Measures of polarization of income distribution and its evolution in Brazil from 1995 to 2021
The importance of distinguishing bipolarization from multipolarization in the analysis of income distribution is emphasized and the interpretation of the main measures for these concepts is discussed. Using PNAD data, we analyze the evolution of bipolarization of the distribution of per capita house...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Published: |
Universidade Estadual de Campinas
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://econtents.sbu.unicamp.br/inpec/index.php/rbest/article/view/17421 |
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| Summary: | The importance of distinguishing bipolarization from multipolarization in the analysis of income distribution is emphasized and the interpretation of the main measures for these concepts is discussed. Using PNAD data, we analyze the evolution of bipolarization of the distribution of per capita household income in Brazil from 1995 to 2021, showing that it is very similar to the evolution of inequality. Using the same database, the evolution of the multipolarization measure of Esteban and Ray from 1995 to 2015 is analysed, showing the importance of choosing the appropriate value of the respective parameter (α) of multipolarization sensitivity. It is verified that with α = 1 this measure captures the growing relevance, in the period 1995-2015, of the spike of incomes equal to the minimum wage. It is demonstrated that the “median relative polarization” of Handcock and Morris (1999) does not capture changes in polarization; and papers with false results on the evolution of the polarization of income distribution in Brazil are criticized. |
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| ISSN: | 2674-9564 |
