The Impact of Brazil´s Tax-Benefit System on Inequality and Poverty

Herwig Immervoll, Horacio Levy, Jose Nogueira, Cathal O´Donoghue () and Rozane Bezerra de Siqueira ()
Additional contact information
Cathal O´Donoghue: National University of Ireland and IZA, Bonn
Rozane Bezerra de Siqueira: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Cathal O'donoghue

No 117, Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers from Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: The Brazilian government raises an amount of taxes that represents 35% of GDP and spends more than two-thirds of this on social programmes. These shares are in pair with the OECD averages and well in excess of Latin America averages. However, while the tax-benefit system in OECD countries notably reduces market inequality, in Brazil the government has not been able to significantly alleviate inequality and poverty. This paper investigates the impact of the government budget, particularly taxes and cash transfers, on income distribution in Brazil, and evaluates its efficiency and effectiveness in reducing inequality and poverty. The analysis also illustrates how microsimulation is a useful and powerful method for evaluating the impact of policy on income distribution.

JEL-codes: C81 H22 H23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2005-10-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lam and nep-pbe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of Brazil's Tax-Benefit System on Inequality and Poverty (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:got:iaidps:117

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