The study aims to investigate the use of socioeconomic information on the brazilian academic production, with special attention to studies in the area of Business Administration published between 2004 to 2010. The bibliometric method was used to analyze 4,687 articles published in 24 different bibliographic sources relevant to the administration area, 22 journals and proceedings of two scientific events. We tried to analyze what is published in the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Administration (EnANPAD), in the Marketing Meeting (EMA) and in major business administration brazilian journals, classified as A2, B1, B2 and B3 by CAPES. The initial selection resulted in 196 articles, which were evaluated for content, considering certain variables of relevance. Then the results were quantified by frequency and presented in tables. In the second stage of the study were conducted in-depth interviews with some authors of selected articles in the bibliometric research, to get to know their views and experiences in relation to access and use of data for the development of their studies. The results of bibliometric research suggest an underutilization of the information produced by public sources. Among the reviewed journals, the Journal of Public Administration (RAP) was the vehicle that published most articles based on government statistics. However, in the annals of events were identified 31 per cent of articles. Most papers were written by two authors and addressed issues related to consumer behavior. In the interviews it was observed that the researchers feel safe using public data, based on their perceived quality, and that the facility of free access to data provides immediate and safe information to their studies. It was also expressed by the authors the impression that training in quantitative methods offered by post-graduate courses is precarious, favoring the preference by conducting qualitative studies, especially case studies. Nevertheless, there are some difficulties: the need for greater clarity in the way of working of the institutions that produce data, delays in services provided to users of the information, inefficient support, difficulty to find data at the websites of the agencies, the need for specific programs and in-depth knowledge of statistical and discontinuity in the production of certain information. The scarcity of resources devoted to research in Brazil, the lack of existence and even somewhat precarious data may also discourage the use of socioeconomic statistics produced by government agencies.