The effect of allocation function in budgeting to reduce income inequality in Brazil: an analysis of spending on education and health from 1995 to 2012

Abstract Income inequality is seen as a major problem of contemporary society. In order to reverse inequality the state can use allocation function in budgeting. This study sought to identify the impacts of allocation function in budgeting on income inequality for Brazilian states from 1995 to 2012. Spending on education and health was considered as an allocative function proxy, while the Gini coefficient, the Theil coefficient, was used as a proxy for income inequality. This found the ratio between the richest 10% and the poorest 40%, and the ratio between the richest 20% and poorest 20%. The functional relationship between the two sets of variables was explored in the analysis of panel data and tobit regression. Considering aggregate expenditure on education and health of states and municipalities in the period, it was concluded that federative units that invested more in health have been better at reducing income inequality, with the opposite effect occurring for the cost of education. When spending on health and education are broken down into several sections, it can be seen that the federation units with higher volume of spending in the following sub-functions (2nd level of function) — Primary health care, hospital and outpatient care, prophylactic and therapeutic support and early childhood education — have made greater gains in reducing income inequality.

摘要 收入不平等被视为当代社会的核心顽疾之一。为扭转收入不平等态势，国家可依托预算分配职能发挥调节作用。本研究旨在探明1995年至2012年巴西各州预算分配职能对收入不平等的影响效应。研究以教育与医疗卫生支出作为分配职能的代理变量，以基尼系数（Gini coefficient）、泰尔指数（Theil coefficient）作为收入不平等水平的代理指标，同时纳入最富10%群体与最穷40%群体的收入比值、最富20%群体与最穷20%群体的收入比值作为补充分析维度。研究通过面板数据（panel data）与托宾回归（tobit regression）分析了两类变量间的函数关系。结合同期各州及各市的教育与医疗卫生总支出来看，本研究得出结论：对医疗卫生投入更高的联邦制单位，其收入不平等的改善效果更为显著；而教育支出则呈现相反的效应。进一步将医疗卫生与教育支出拆解至二级职能分类后可见，在初级医疗保健、医院与门诊服务、预防与治疗支持以及幼儿教育这些二级子职能领域投入更高的联邦制单位，在降低收入不平等方面取得了更显著的成效。