Sources for the Study of Brazilian Economic and Social History on the Internet

In the past dozen years, the Internet has become a major source of information for modern social and economic history. Given the overwhelming abundance of these sources, it is useful for researchers who want to take advantage of these data to have finding guides, in the style of the older guides prepared for individual archives. It is our aim in this first essay to provide such a guide for Internet sources on Brazilian history.The primary material now available on the Web tends to be of the highest quality. Although much qualitative material produced directly for the Web is of dubious reliability, most of the statistical and graphic materials available were generated by the agencies that gather and produce this material for Brazil and are the same as those available in print. Often, the data provided are more complete than can be obtained in any print-based archive. One potential problem with using Web materials is determining the source of data, in order to judge its quality. International agencies, foreign governments, and NGOs are involved in producing social and economic data on Brazil. Much of this information is usually of the same high quality as that generated by Brazilian government agencies; the data is either generated by these non-Brazilian government agencies or taken directly from the primary Brazilian producing institutions. In some cases, secondary agencies such as the UN’s FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) provide more detailed information than Brazilian governmental sources. But in some cases, as with the World Bank and some other UN agencies, these data may conflict with information produced in Brazil, either because they have used Brazilian data that is out-of-date or rely on their own estimates, which may not be as accurate as the most current governmental statistics. In these cases, we recommend relying on the original Brazilian materials.It should be stressed that the Brazilian government, at all levels and across its various agencies, maintains these Web sites free or charge to all users, with no need to register, obtain a subscription, or pay a fee. The only exception is the subscriptions gateway maintained by CAPES, intended for Brazilian scholars who need access to subscription pay sites outside Brazil (http://www.periodicos.capes.gov.br). This open access is not the norm for many European and UN Web sites, which often require formal registration and sometimes charge usage fees. I have included this in my descriptions and suggest access through your local university.In comparison with most other countries, Brazil’s research institutes and government agencies both produce excellent quantitative materials and make them available on the Web. Most Brazilian Web sites offer good search functions, a crucial component of any site, and usually make it easy to download materials in either text, PDF, HTML, or spreadsheet formats (from generic CSV to Excel and Lotus). Maps and other graphic materials are becoming ever more abundant, usually provided in standard graphic compression formats (most often as JPEG or GIF files) or imbedded in PDF files. Almost all governmental Web sites also provide excellent links that can be used to expand the search for materials in other national and international agencies and organizations. Some sites offer a complete gateway (“portal” in Portuguese) that leads in a coherent way to subagencies or institutions within a given area.In providing this guide, we have grouped Web sites into sources that produce the original data and then grouped these and other institutions into broad social and economic categories. In each case we provide the Web site for the institution producing the data. But as anyone who has done Web searches knows, URLs often change or disappear. In these cases we recommend using a search engine such as Google to find the new addresses. Finally, for grammatical reasons, some of the URLs listed below end in a period in this document. But for searching purposes this period should be removed as they are not part of the Internet address.1. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), http://www.ibge.gov.br, the federal government’s national statistical bureau and clearly the single-most important Brazilian institution producing social, economic, and geographical data. IBGE’s site has a very useful links section, with lists of federal, state, and municipal government home pages, as well as federal, state, and municipal university sites. It also contains sources for geographic information and gives URLs for international organizations that provide information relevant to Brazil. Researchers can either download summary tables from the site or, through their special service SIDRA (see below), create their own tables of economic and social information taken from IBGE’s various censuses and surveys of population, the economy, and even of households (the famous PNAD surveys). The ability to generate personalized datasets is a very useful and unusual feature of this site.2. Ministério da Educação, http://www.mec.gov.br, offers general information on education, as well as access to several other important federal government agencies that work in this area, such as Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação (FNDE), the Conselho Nacional de Educação (CFE), the Fundo do Ensino Fundamental (FUNDEF), the Coordenação e Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior (CAPES), the Fundescola, and the Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (INEP).The INEP is the research branch of the ministry, and their site (http://www.inep.gov.br/default.asp) offers a great variety of information, including formal educational censuses.3. Ministério da Previdência e Assistência Social (Social Services and Welfare), http://www.mpas.gov.br/#, provides information concerning welfare, work accidents, and even annual census materials related to these themes, especially under the section “Estatísticas.”4. Ministério da Saúde (Health), http://www.datasus.gov.br/, offers data related to public health and other social concerns. The ministry also administers an excellent gateway to all other agencies in Brazil dealing with health: http://portal.saude.gov.br/saude/.5. Banco Central do Brasil, http://www.bacen.gov.br, is a valuable source of primary information on the Brazilian economy that can be accessed through “Sistema Financeiro Nacional” and “Informações Econômicas e Financeiras” and offers general statistics on the economy and financial systems, with dozens of statistical series, short-term economic indicators, and macroeconomic information. The institution also generates numerous publications, including periodicals, special studies, and technical notes. The Central Bank’s data is notable for its quality and frequency. The Central Bank also provides information on the expanding agricultural sector, with statistics relative to various agricultural markets and public and private financing. Finally, it offers a gateway in both English and Portuguese, at http://www.bb.com.br/appbb/portal/index.jsp.6. Ministério da Fazenda (Treasury), http://www.fazenda.gov.br, contains much economic information, including data on the public debt and fiscal information, and an excellent set of links. The ministry also has legislative information, including acts related to the Treasury. Here one can also find copies of all the agreements signed between Brazil and the IMF.7. Caixa Econômica Federal (Federal Savings Bank), http://www.caixa.gov.br; through its “Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço,” the Caixa is the principal source of funding in the areas of Housing and Sanitation. Its site provides qualitative information on its programs, as well as relevant legislation. Unfortunately, the site offers no statistical information.8. Ministério do Planejamento, Controle e Gestão (Planning), http://www.planejamento.gov.br, presents general information concerning long-term federal investments, budget outlays, and principal programs. It also offers information on the relation of the federal government to international agencies and the administration of federal state enterprises. It offers links to a large number of national and international public agencies. The best social and economic research center in Brazil—IPEA—is located within this ministry but is discussed separately below (see section 4.2).9. Ministério da Agricultura, http://www.agricultura.gov.br/, is a very useful site with information on the production and commercialization of agricultural products. It also gives access to dozens of federal and state agencies on agriculture and food supply. A subsection of the ministry is the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA), one of the principal research centers in the country, http://www.embrapa.br. The site offers access to the fundamental “Base de Dados da Pesquisa Agropecuária de 2002,” which gives the latest statistical information (http://bdpa.cnptia.embrapa.br). Information on family agriculture can be found at http://gipaf.cnptia.embrapa.br. A virtual library with emphasis on agriculture can be accessed at http://www.sct.embrapa.br/liv/. Here one also finds the “Rede Nacional de Meteorologia,” offering information on climate and agricultural regions: http://masrv54.agricultura.gov.br/rna.10. Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (Labor and Employment), http://www.mte.gov.br, contains information on unemployment insurance, annual employment figures in the private sector, and retirement plans from the Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço (FGTS). The “Estatísticas” section offers statistical materials on themes such as the “Relação Anual de Informações Sociais,” which gives annual data sent by private companies that contract workers. The site also presents employment and unemployment data from the “Salário Desemprego” and the “Sistema Nacional de Emprego (SINE),” data on work-related accidents, and other information related to workers.11. Ministério do Desenvolvimento Indústria e Comércio Exterior (Indus trial Development and Foreign Commerce), http://www.mdic.gov.br/default.asp, provides information on foreign trade, costs of production in various economic sectors, and research on productivity in general. It reproduces material from its Anuário Estatístico da Secretaria de Desenvolvimento da Produção on the Gross Domestic Product (PIB), as well as employment data for the industrial sector. This site also has a gateway to agencies that with deal with inter-industrial productive relations.A subsection of this ministry is the National Economic and Social Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, BNDES, which has an excellent site at http://www.bndes.gov.br. “Estudos e Publicações” presents statistical studies concerning the principal economic sectors, especially related to basic inputs and infrastructure, as well as material on social and urban development. The BNDES, as the administrator of the national program of privatization, also furnishes important information on this theme.The IBGE offers a very detailed listing of summary statistics and maps for every municipality in the country, showing the latest population, economic, and social data, at http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/default.php.Many of the states’ own statistical agencies maintain excellent Internet sites. São Paulo’s Fundação Sistema Estadual de Análise de Dados (SEADE), http://www.seade.gov.br, provides basic statistics on the state’s population and economy and direct access to the “Memória das Estatísticas Demográficas,” http://www.seade.gov.br/500anos, which presents, among other types of information, demographic statistics on the state’s municípios over the past one hundred years, along with useful historical maps. The SEADE site also offers links to all of Brazil’s state statistical agencies—for example, the Centro de Informações e Dados do Rio de Janeiro (Fundação CIDE), http://www.cide.rj.gov.br, and the Fundação João Pinheiro do Governo de Minas Gerais, http://www.fjp.gov.br.The IBGE site also offers links to many municipal governments, but there is also a special gateway to all municípios, Municípionline, at http://www.municipionline.com.br. http://brasilchannel.com.br/municipios serves a similar purpose. Finally “Rede Governo,” http://www.redegoverno.gov.br, functions as a gateway to numerous government agencies and services at all levels, including to Brazilian legislation.1. Under the section “População,” the IBGE site presents a series of statistical information, primarily demographic in nature. The two most important are the results from the last two national censuses, 1991 and 2000. This sectional also offers much information on health, education, labor force activity, and even sanitation, disaggregated at the national, state, and municipal levels. Another important subsection contains information from the famous household surveys—the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios, or PNAD, which has been systematically gathered from a very large national sample since the 1960s and is one of the most important periodical surveys carried out in Brazil. These surveys collect detailed information on income, employment, and housing, as well as educational and demographic data. Many of the earlier surveys are now available on CD, and data from the 2001 PNAD are already available on the Web. Vital statistics are found in the subsection “Estatisticas de Registro Civil,” which contains data on births, deaths, marriages, and divorce/separation for 1997–98 and 1999–2000. Life tables (“tabua de vida”) are available for 2000 and 2001. Finally, the latest population estimates and projections, made in 2000 and projecting basic demographic indices through 2050, can be obtained through FTP.One can link from the main IBGE site to their special Web program, SIDRA (“Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática”), at http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda. As mentioned earlier, this system allows users to create their own tables of selected data, controlling its tabular presentation, level of desegregation, and geographic scope. The tables created can either be viewed as HTML to cut- and-paste, or saved as a file in various formats.1 SIDRA contains both demographic and economic and social data2. Núcleo de Estudos em Demografia Histórica (NEDH), http://members.tripod.com/~Historia_Demografica/INDEX.HTM, publishes an as well as important information and de de contains and of of Brasileira de Estudos offers access to numerous demographic studies, as well as links to other national and international institutions that have an in Brazilian demographic Centro de do Núcleo de Estudos da provides qualitative information and access to data and studies produced by the researchers of the It also a link to of similar de is an important UN providing fundamental economic and social information. to its statistical information with most UN may require a university their important studies, many of which have very detailed statistical information, are available in PDF most important is the for and the a fundamental source of excellent also special such as Foreign in and the and Social of is also the for the Centro de with all the government statistical agencies, including Its site contains excellent demographic information, and the publishes the which can be accessed and which on a each for of the and related to The is the best source for international demographic some of which to the but a university subscription for The also produced and data from available on The data on housing, and social indicators, along with information and The World of the can best be used through its search engine Information The also can one to the health can be found at the section International contains information on Brazil and the other of A of is available at at the of is from censuses in the available in either or National maintains a great of demographic information from all the of the and the of at of maintain an historical This excellent source for and and tables for many European and is available at with these two institutions also maintain a for at The World Bank offers statistics on Brazil and other at under and and some dealing with Brazil. 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Internet sources are it is that this first have to be either by or any other who to this can be sent to the at either or

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