The actuarial profession and social security in Brazil from the First Republic up to the Vargas Era

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper was to understand the relationships between the consolidation of the actuarial profession and social security policies in Brazil, from the First Republic up to the Vargas Era. In general, there is little literature on the history of the actuarial profession in Brazil. Specifically, there is no study that addresses the relationship between the development of the actuarial profession and the social security policies at the crucial moment of Brazilian social security expansion during the Vargas Era. This paper contributes to filling that gap. From time to time, Brazilian social security reforms are debated. The role of actuaries in this discussion is poorly understood. However, these professionals have historically been essential to social security policies. This article sheds light on that history. The text may broaden the knowledge on the history of the actuarial profession and its relationships with social security policies in Brazil. This is a historical study, built based on primary documentation. Sources were researched relating to the actuarial organizations for social security in Brazil and the actuarial professionals who composed their staff. The references to the professional trajectories of actuaries were crossed and considered in light of the information gathered regarding the actions of the institutions that employed them. The analysis was qualitative and the material was interpreted with the support of the referenced bibliography. This article reveals that the consolidation of the actuarial profession came about based on the participation of engineers-actuaries in the public organizations that supported the varguista social security policies. The paper also contributes to broadening the knowledge on the history of the actuarial profession in Brazil from the First Republic up to the Vargas Era (1930-1945).