Salary discrepancy in the Brazilian executive branch: a cluster analysis

Abstract This paper verifies the evolution of the remuneration pattern of different higher-level careers within the Brazilian federal executive branch from 1998 to 2015. In recent years, the differences in remuneration have substantially increased in the Brazilian civil service. However, the results obtained through cluster analysis suggest a pattern of greater pay raise for “typical state careers” to the detriment of others. This reveals a pattern of salary appreciation within the executive branch and, especially, an internal distributive conflict, in which those careers closer to the central power and with characteristics of “typical state careers” were gradually benefiting, establishing a major change in the relative remuneration pattern among different careers over the studied period.