Economic Sector, Demographic Composition, Educational Attainment, and Earnings in Brazil

Ernesto Amaral , Texas A&M University
Samantha Haussmann Rodarte Faustino
Guilherme Quaresma Gonçalves, Cedeplar, UFMG
Bernardo L. Queiroz, Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional (CEDEPLAR)

This paper estimates associations of individual-level variables, as well as changes in demographic, educational, and economic sector compositions with earnings of male workers living in urban areas in Brazil. Ordinary least squares regressions estimate variation on individual earnings. We consider effects of several individual characteristics, as well as information on demographic, educational, and economic sector compositions of areas of residence. We analyzed data from the 1980–2010 Demographic Censuses. Considering individual-level variables, older and better educated workers have higher earnings. Workers in the formal economic sector have higher earnings than those in the informal sector. Considering area-level variables, higher proportions of people working in the formal economic sector have positive associations with earnings. Proportions of people in age-education groups tend to have negative associations with earnings mostly among older workers. For models by economic sector, estimated effects generate greater economic inequality in the informal sector than in the formal sector.

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 Presented in Session 8. Economy, Labor Force, Education, & Inequality