Os impactos dos programas de transferências de renda na pobreza do Brasil

Abstract

The widespread view that income transfers help to reduce the incidence of poverty has been asserted by many policymakers and citizens who support income transfer programs in Brazil. Nevertheless, a number of analysts contend that such programs are in fact ineffective in reducing poverty, because only a small share of the income that is transferred actually reaches the poor, or because such programs create a poverty trap. This article peruses this issue investigating the role of Brazilian income transfer programs over the period 1992-2004, controlling for other relevant variables that may affect poverty such as economic growth, inequality, education, unemployment and the number of female-headed families. Results from a VAR, using panel data, show that changes in income transfer do not Granger-cause changes in poverty rates. The relationship between income transfer and poverty is then explored in more depth through a dynamic panel data method, proposed by Blundell and Bond (1998). The major finding of this methodology is that poverty is not affected by government income transfers. The results therefore strongly support the critic view that income transfer programs in Brazil fail to reduce poverty.