Dynamics of the Brazilian industrial inflation: a sectoral approach (1999-2014)

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the dynamics of the Brazilian industrial inflation during 1999-2014. Based on the post-Keynesian theory on price formation and distributive conflict, the paper discusses the importance of sectoral differences for the analysis of Brazilian inflation in the 2000s. These differences are important since they can lead to heterogeneous reactions in the face of different inflationary pressures. Micro and macroeconomic approaches are considered in order to contribute to the diagnosis of Brazilian industrial inflation. An econometric exercise with panel data is conducted to estimate the effects of the impact of changes in costs, wages, demand and lagged prices on changes in final prices. We find that, considering sectoral heterogeneity, cost shocks are the main explanatory variable for the inflation dynamics.