POF, the Brazilian Consumer Expenditure Survey, is a household survey conducted by IBGE in order to investigate the pattern of consumption and expenditure of the Brazilian population. Households are followed for 12 months. This survey is conducted every six or seven years starting in 1988 and covers the entire national territory. Among other uses, POF data serves as input for the construction of consumption baskets used to estimate IBGE consumer price indexes: IPCA (the main consumer price index in Brazil) and INPC. In 2008-2009, POF's sample covered 55,970 households, with a total of 190,159 individuals.
POF provides information on individuals (age, level of education and income) and households (such as existence of sewage, walls, vehicles) and different records for each type of expenditure for each household and individual. The type of record depends on the expenditure frequency and whether the expenditure is computed at the household or the individual level. The frequency and level in which expenditures are recorded are defined by IBGE before the interview occurs. Expenditure on food, for example, is collected through a booklet filled out daily at the households for seven days. Meanwhile, expenditure on hairdressing services is recorded individually and refers to a period of 90 days.
Users can access the microdata collected in these household surveys. There are distinct files for household and individual characteristics, possession of durable goods, as well as for each type of expenditure. In order to be able to use the packages, the user must first obtain the microdata related to the round she is interested in. Data Zoom does not provide these data. The microdata and documentation for 2002-2003 and 2008-2009 rounds are available to download from IBGE website. For information on how to acquire other rounds, click here.
Data Zoom offers packages for the three most recent rounds, 1995-96, 2002-03 and 2008-09. Each package is composed of three tools. The first one reads POF microdata files using STATA, generating STATA format files (.dta) without any data manipulation. The second tool generates a “standard” database which contains annualized expenditures per household (or consumer unit, i.e. family, or individual) in all items, where the items are aggregated according to the IBGE document "Tradutores". For the two most recent rounds, in addition to the total amount of expenditure, two variables are generated: one measuring the total of expenditures paid with credit and the other measuring the total of expenditures paid in kind (donations etc.). Finally, the third tool allows the user to create her own consumption basket and obtain its expenditure value. In this case, it is possible to obtain expenditures in a more disaggregated level than those obtained from the standard database.
To install one of these packages, type "net from http://www.econ.puc-rio.br/datazoom/english" in STATA's command window and click on "datazoom_pofYEAR", where YEAR refers to the four-digit year of the round. Due to the large number of options available to the user and the need to insert information for the proper functioning of the programs, it is strongly recommended that you use the package via dialog box. To access it, type "db datazoom_pofYEAR" in the command window. Each package tool also contains a help file to support the user, which can be accessed through the dialog box.