Functional Income Distribution in Brazil (1955-2014)
Income distribution. Functional Income Distribution. Wage share in National Income. Capital Share in National Income.
In the economic sciences, there are many studies analyzing the issue of economic inequality, but one of the criticisms of contemporary economic literature that studies income inequality is that it predominantly studies aspects related to personal income distribution, forgetting to deepen in the questions related to the functional income distribution. Although the functional income distribution is an important aspect in the development of many macroeconomic theories, its study is still very neglected both internationally and nationally. This is due, in large part, to the theoretical and methodological limitations inherent to its study. Despite these limitations, there are several factors that motivate its study. Thus, the present work aims to analyze the historical behavior of the Functional Income Distribution in Brazil between 1955-2014. We analyze the behavior of DFR based on three factors: real labor productivity, real wages and bargaining power of workers. The analysis of workers' bargaining power was carried out through an understanding of the evolution of the welfare state. The results show that, between 1955 and 2014, the functional income distribution in Brazil presented a cyclical behavior, with a cycle lasting 7-10 years. In international comparison, it can be seen that the share of labor income in national income followed the international dynamics. DFR in Brazil is relatively low, even when compared to that of poor countries. We also verified that studies focused on DFR should take into account conceptual, methodological and quantitative factors, since there is no consensus in the literature regarding its measurement techniques. Through the methodologies presented, the treatment given to income of the self-employed (mixed income) is the main factor that influences the existence of several forms of estimation of labor income participation in national income. The research is classified as exploratory-descriptive, qualitative and quantitative, and the data were obtained, mainly, through the National Accounts (IBGE), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).