The Siena Micro-Simulation Model (SM2): a contribution for informality studies in Brazil

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 40 million people worked in the black market in 2012. This result certainly represents an improvement on the informal employment calculated in 2001, but it is still extremely high by international standards. This article aims to contribute to this discussion by presenting the Siena MicroSimulation Model (SM2) that is able to reproduce the Brazilian National Accounts System data, and to simulate, on a regional and national scale, the policies adopted to combat informal employment. SM2 has been widely used by EUROSTAT in other European countries, and enables not only conversion of gross to net income, but accounts for changes in the current tax rates and the implementation of the new tax burden. Based on the excellent results in terms of social insurance contributions, total taxes and disposable income, we can use the SM2 as a wide tool to simulate public policies in Brazil.