Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:19:32.216Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE KUZNETS CURVE IN BRAZIL, 1850-2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2020

María Gómez León Open the ORCID record for María Gómez León [Opens in a new window]
María Gómez León*
Affiliation:
Universidad Carlos III de Madrida
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Using social tables and modern household surveys, this article explores Brazil's income distribution from a historical perspective (1850-2010), examining its relationship with economic development and the factors driving inequality changes. It shows that Brazil's inequality was not always high, but rather followed a Kuznets curve, increasing from the early 20th century, reaching a high plateau between the 1970s and 1990s and declining thereafter. Notably, results highlight the importance of both economic and political factors for enabling the completion of the second Kuznets curve phase.

Resumen

RESUMEN

A partir del uso de tablas sociales y encuestas de hogares, este artículo explora la distribución de la renta en Brasil desde una perspectiva histórica (1850-2010), examinando su relación con el desarrollo económico y los factores que impulsaron los cambios en la desigualdad. Se muestra que la alta desigualdad en Brasil no es endémica, al contrario, su evolución siguió una curva de Kuznets, aumentando a comienzos del siglo XX, estancándose a un alto nivel entre los años 1970s y 1990s y cayendo después. Los resultados destacan la importancia de los factores económicos y políticos en la reducción de la desigualdad y consecución de la segunda fase de la curva de Kuznets.

Keywords

Brazilinequalityeconomic developmentN16N36O15BrasilDesigualdadDesarrollo Económico
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 37 - 61
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

a

Department of Social Sciences and Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain. mgomez3@clio.uc3m.es

References

REFERENCES

Absell, C. D., and Tena-Junguito, A. (2016): «Brazilian Export Growth and Divergence in the Tropics during the Nineteenth Century». Journal of Latin American Studies 48(4), pp. 677-706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2001): «The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation ». American Economic Review 91(5), pp. 1369-1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2002): «Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution». The Quarterly Journal of Economics 117(4), pp. 1231-1294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahluwalia, M. S. (1976): «Inequality, Poverty and Development». Journal of Development Economics 3(4), pp. 307-342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alvaredo, F., Chancel, L., Piketty, T., Saez, E., and Zucman, G. (eds) (2018): World Inequality Report 2018. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anand, S., and Kanbur, S. R. (1993): «Inequality and Development a Critique». Journal of Development Economics 41(1), pp. 19-43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, J., and Jalles, J. (2014): «Dividing the Pie in Brazil: Income Distribution, Social Policies and the New Middle Class». OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1105, OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Arroyo Abad, L. (2013): «Persistent Inequality? Trade, Factor Endowments, and Inequality in Republican Latin America». The Journal of Economic History 73(1), pp. 38-78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arroyo Abad, L., and Astorga, P. (2017): «Latin American Earnings Inequality in the Long Run». Cliometrica 11(3), pp. 349-374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Astorga, P. (2010): «A Century of Economic Growth in Latin America». Journal of Development Economics 92(2), pp. 232-243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Astorga, P. (2017): «Real Wages and Skill Premiums in Latin America, 1900-2011». Revista de Historia Económica–Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 35(3), pp. 319-353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, A. B., Hasell, J., Morelli, S., and Roser, M. (2017): «Chartbook of Economic Inequality». Available at https://www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com.Google Scholar
Baer, W. (2008): The Brazilian Economy: Growth and Development, 6th edn. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Barro, R. J. (2000): «Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries». Journal of Economic Growth 5(1), pp. 5-32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barros, R., Carvalho, M., Franco, S., and Mendoça, R. (2010): «Markets, the State, and the Dynamics of Inequality in Brazil». in López Calva, L. F., and Lustig, N. (eds), Declining Inequality in Latin America: A Decade of Progress? Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, pp. 134-175.Google Scholar
Bértola, L. (2005): «50 años de la curva de Kuznets: Crecimiento económico y distribución del ingreso en Uruguay y otras economías de nuevo asentamiento desde 1870». Investigaciones de Historia Económica 1(3), pp. 135-176.Google Scholar
Bértola, L., Castelnovo, C., Reis, E., and Willebald, H. (2007): «Exploring the Distribution of Income in Brazil, 1839-1939». Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Historia Económica (CLADHE I), Montevideo.Google Scholar
Bértola, L., Castelnovo, C., Rodríguez, J., and Willebald, H. (2010): «Between the Colonial Heritage and the First Globalization Boom: On Income Inequality in the Southern Cone». Revista de Historia Económica–Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 28(2), 307-341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulmer-Thomas, V. (2003): The Economic History of Latin America since Independence, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cacciamali, M. (2011): «Brasil un caso reciente de crecimiento económico con distribución de la renta». Revista de Estudios Empresariales. Segunda Época 1, pp. 46-64Google Scholar
Campbell, B. (2008): «Benchmarking Medieval Economic Development: England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, c. 12901». The Economic History Review 61(4), pp. 896-945.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chacón, V. (1977): Estado e Povo no Brasil: As Experiências do Estado Novo e da Democracia Populista: 1937-1964. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympo.Google Scholar
Coatsworth, J. H. (2005): «Structures, Endowments, and Institutions in the Economic History of Latin America». Latin American Research Review 40(3), pp. 3-39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Côrtes Neri, M. (2010): A Nova Classe Média. O Lado Brilhante dos Pobres. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Getulio Vargas.Google Scholar
Dean, W. (1992): «La Economía Brasileña, 1870-1930». in Bethell, L. (ed.), Historia de América Latina (Vol. 10). Barcelona: Editiorial Crítica, pp. 333-369.Google Scholar
Deininger, K., and Squire, L. (1998): «New Ways of Looking at Old Issues: Inequality and Growth». Journal of Development Economics 57(2), pp. 259-287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engerman, S., and Sokoloff, K. (1997): «Inequality, Institutions, and Differential Paths of Growth Among New World Economies». in Haber, S. (ed.), How Latin America Fell Behind. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 260-304.Google Scholar
Engerman, S., and Sokoloff, K. (2000): «Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World». Journal of Economic Perspectives 14(3), pp. 217-232.Google Scholar
Engerman, S., and Sokoloff, K. (2002): «Factor Endowments, Inequality, and Paths of Development among New World Economies». Economía 3(1), pp. 41-88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinstein, C. (1988): «The Rise and Fall of the Williamson Curve». The Journal of Economic History 48(3), pp. 699-729.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, F. H., Leite, P. G., and Litchfield, J. A. (2008): «The Rise and Fall of Brazilian Inequality: 1981-2004». Macroeconomic Dynamics 12(Supp. 2), pp. 199-230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, F., Messina, J., Rigolini, J., López Calva, L., Lugo, M., and Vakis, R. (2013): Economic Mobility and the Rise of the Latin American Middle Class. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Frankema, E. (2009): Has Latin America Always Been Unequal? A Comparative Study of Asset and Income Inequality in the Long Twentieth Century (Vol. 3). Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankema, E. (2010): «Reconstructing Labor Income Shares in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, 1870-2000». Revista de Historia Económica–Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 28(2), pp. 343-374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furtado, C. (1965): La dialectica del desarrollo: Diagnóstico de la crisis del Brasil. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Gasparini, L., Cruces, G., Tornarolli, L., and Mejía, D. (2011): «Recent Trends in Income Inequality in Latin America». Economia 11(2), pp. 147-201.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, R. (1986): Brasil 1850-1984: Desenvolvimento Financeiro sob um Século de Inflação. Rio de Janeiro: Banco Bamerindus do Brasil.Google Scholar
Gómez León, M. (2019): «The Rise of the Middle Class in Brazil, 1850-1950». European Review of Economic History 23(4), pp. 482-498.Google Scholar
Gómez León, M., and de Jong, H. J. (2019): «Inequality in Turbulent Times: Income Distribution in Germany and Britain, 1900-50». The Economic History Review 72(3), pp. 1073-1098.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzaga, G., Menezes Filho, N., and Terra, C. (2006): «Trade Liberalization and the Evolution of Skill Earnings Differentials in Brazil». Journal of International Economics 68(2), pp. 345-367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iglesias, F. (1994): Breve Historia Contemporánea del Brasil. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Kanbur, R. (2011): «Does Kuznets Still Matter? Paper written for a Festschrift in honor of Montek Ahluwalia». September. Revised version published in Kochhar, S. (ed.) 2012. Policy-Making for Indian Planning: Essays on Contemporary Issues in Honor of Montek S. Ahluwalia. London, Academic Foundation Press, pp. 115-128.Google Scholar
Klein, H. S. (1995): «A Participação Política no Brasil do Século XIX: os Votantes de São Paulo em 1880». Dados-Revista de Ciências Sociais 38(3), pp. 527-544.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. (1955): «Economic Growth and Income Inequality». The American Economic Review 45(1), pp. 1-28.Google Scholar
Lakner, C., and Milanovic, B. (2013): «Global Income Distribution: From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to the Great Recession». Policy Research Working Paper 6719, Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leff, N. (1969): «Long-Term Brazilian Economic Development». The Journal of Economic History 29(3), pp. 473-493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leff, N. (1982): Underdevelopment and Development in Brazil (Vol. I): Economic Structure and Change, 1822-1947. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Lewis, W. A. (1954): «Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour». The Manchester School 22(2), pp. 139-191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindert, P. H., and Williamson, J. G. (1982): «Revising England's Social Tables 1688-1812». Explorations in Economic History 19, pp. 385-408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindert, P. H., and Williamson, J. G. (1983): «Reinterpreting Britain's Social Tables». Explorations in Economic History 20, pp. 94-109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindert, P. H., and Williamson, J. G. (2016): «Unequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality since 1700». Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lobo, E. (1978): História do Rio de Janeiro: Do Capital Comercial ao Capital Industrial e Financeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Brasileiro de Mercado de Capitais.Google Scholar
Lobo, E., Canavarros, O., Feres, Z., Gonçalves, S., and Barbosa Madureira, L. (1971): «Evolução dos Preços e do Padrão de Vida no Rio de Janeiro 1820-1930». Revista Brasileira de Economía 25(4), pp. 235-266.Google Scholar
Luna, F. V., and Klein, H. S. (2006): Brazil since 1980. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luna, F. V., and Klein, H. S. (2014): The Economic and Social History of Brazil since 1889. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mainwaring, S. (1986): «The Transition to Democracy in Brazil». Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 28(1), pp. 149-180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milanovic, B. (2006): «An Estimate of Average Income and Inequality in Byzantium around Year 1000». Review of Income and Wealth 52(3), pp. 449-470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milanovic, B. (2016): Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milanovic, B. (2018): «Towards an Explanation of Inequality in Premodern Societies: The Role of Colonies, Urbanization, and High Population Density». The Economic History Review 71(4), pp. 1029-1047.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milanovic, B. (2019): Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milanovic, B., Lindert, P. H., and Williamson, J. G. (2010): «Pre-Industrial Inequality». The Economic Journal 121(551), pp. 255-272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monasterio, L. (2010): «Brazilian Spatial Dynamics in the Long Term (1872-2000) «Path Dependency» or «Reversal of Fortune»?». Journal of Geographical Systems 12(1), pp. 51-67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreira Cunha, A., and da Silva Bichara, J. (2004): «Cambio o continuismo: Una interpretación de la política económica del gobierno de Lula». América Latina Hoy 37, pp. 39-61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morley, S. A. (2001): The Income Distribution Problem in Latin America and the Caribbean (Vol. 65). Santiago de Chile: UN, ECLAC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nunes, N. (2003): «A Experiência Eleitoral em Campos dos Goytacazes (1870-1889): Freqüência Eleitoral e Perfil da População Votante». Dados- Revista de Ciências Sociais 46(2), pp. 311-343.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, K. H., and Williamson, J. G. (1999): Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy. Cambridge: The MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, K. H., Taylor, A. M., and Williamson, J. G. (1996): «Land, Labor, and the Wage-Rental Ratio: Factor Price Convergence in the Late Nineteenth Century». International Economic Review 37(3), pp. 499-530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owensby, P. (1999): Intimate Ironies. Modernity and the Making of a Middle-Class Lives in Brazil. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Pereira, T. A. Z. (2017): «The Cotton Trade and Brazilian Foreign Commerce during the Industrial Revolution». Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
Piketty, T. (2014): Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prados De La Escosura, L. (2007): «Inequality and Poverty in Latin America: A Long-Run Exploration». in Hatton, T., O'Rourke, K., and Taylor, A. M. (eds), The New Comparative Economic History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 291-315.Google Scholar
Prados De La Escosura, L. (2008). «Inequality, Poverty and the Kuznets Curve in Spain, 1850-2000». European Review of Economic History 12(3), pp. 287-324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravallion, M., and Chen, S. (2003): «Measuring Pro-Poor Growth». Economics Letters 78(1), pp. 93-99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez Weber, J. E. (2017): «The Political Economy of Income Inequality in Chile Since 1850» in Bértola, L., and Williamson, J. (eds), Has Latin American Inequality Changed Direction: Looking over the Long-Run. Montevideo: Springer, pp. 43-64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saez, E., and Zucman, G. (2019): The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Sánchez Alonso, B. (2007): «The Other Europeans: Immigration into Latin American and the International Labour Market (1870-1930)». Revista de Historia Económica–Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 25(3), pp. 395-426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skidmore, T. E. (1967): Politics in Brazil 1930-1964: An Experiment in Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Souza, P. H., and Medeiros, M. (2015): «Top Income Shares and Inequality in Brazil, 1928-2012». Journal of the Brazilian Sociological Society 1(1), pp. 119-132.Google Scholar
Stolz, Y., Baten, J., and Botelho, T. (2013): «Growth Effects of Nineteenth-Century Mass Migrations: «Fome Zero» for Brazil?». European Review of Economic History 17(1), pp. 95-121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Summerhill, W. R. (2005): «Big Social Savings in a Small Laggard Economy: Railroad-Led Growth in Brazil». The Journal of Economic History 65(1), pp. 72-102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Zanden, J. L. (1995): «Tracing the Beginning of the Kuznets Curve: Western Europe during the Early Modern Period». Economic History Review 48(4), pp. 1-23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, J. G. (1999): «Real Wages, Inequality and Globalization in Latin America before 1940». Revista de Historia Económica 17(special issue), pp. 101-142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, J. G. (2002): «Land, Labor, and Globalization in the Third World, 1870-1940». The Journal of Economic History 62(1), pp. 55-85.Google Scholar
Williamson, J. G. (2010): «Five Centuries of Latin American Income Inequality». Revista de Historia Económica–Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 28(2), pp. 227-252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, J. (1993): Working Women, Working Men: São Paulo and the Rise of Brazil's Industrial Working Class, 1900-1955. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Gómez León supplementary material

Gómez León supplementary material

Download Gómez León supplementary material(File)
File 223.1 KB