RICOS? POBRES? UMA ANÁLISE DA POLARIZAÇÃO DA RENDA PARA O CASO BRASILEIRO

This article analyzes the income polarization in Brazil for 1981 and 2003. After we explain the differences between polarization and inequality, we calculate the income polarization for Brazil, based on the work of Esteban, Gradin e Ray (1999). The results indicate that the bipolarization remains stable in the period, following the trend of the Gini coefficient in the employed measures of income: per capita household income and household income adjusted for equivalent scales. However, the level of polarization is high in Brazil, if contrasted to other countries. The key determinant of this fact is the huge difference in average income of the considered groups.