Price Behavior in Brazil: Evidence from Consumer Price Microdata

Abstract

Using an original micro database, this paper presents the main stylized facts from individual consumer price behavior in the Brazilian economy. Among all analyzed countries, Brazil has the highest median frequency of price changes of 54.8% per month, which implies, through an indirect approach, a median duration of 1,3 months. In accordance with the international evidence: i) we observe a marked degree of heterogeneity in the price setting behavior; ii) we do not find evidence of downward price rigidity; iii) the size of the individual price changes are large as compared to the aggregate measure.