Income distribution in Brazil 1981-1990: parametric and non-parametric approaches

Using a newly available comprehensive micro-data set we examine changes in the shape of the Brazilian income distribution during the "lost decade" of the 1980s. We adopt alternative parametric and non-parametric approaches to modelling the distribution. We show that inequality changed dramatically during the decade, along with modest changes in average income. Applying nonparametric kernel density estimation methods we also show that the shape of the underlying income distribution was transformed in a particularly interesting fashion.