Differences of schooling and labor income in the northeast and southeast of Brazil. / Diferenças de escolaridade e rendimento do trabalho nas regiões nordeste e sudeste do Brasil.

AUTOR(ES)

Dilson José de Sena Pereira

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2001

RESUMO

The objective of this study is to identity and estimate the influence of schooling, and other social and economic factor on labor income in northeast and southeast regions of Brazil. Returns to schooling, gender, race, region and parents’ level of schooling were then estimated through the adjustment of four different econometric models: three multiple regression equations, and one instrumental variable equation. The data used in the study were obtained from a selected sample with 3,169 observations. These observations came from a larger sample of the Research on Standards of Living, also called PPV, conducted by IBGE in the 1996-1997 period. The selected sample imposed to the PPV sample the following main restrictions: i) observations with a positive labor income in the labor market; and, ii) persons with aging 15 years or more and aware of their parents level of schooling. The theoretical background of the study is based on the theory of human capital, and special emphasis is given to the contributions of T.W. Schultz and Jacob Mincer. The results of the economic models are consistent with the theoretical principles proposed by Mincer. The research findings support the principle of strong and positive relation between formal education and labor income, despite the frequent argument that social, economic, and cultural factors influencing the level of education makes difficult to know the real direction of such relationship. The rates of return estimated for schooling, ranging from 12 to 19 %, seem to be plausible for the Brazilian case. Previous research support this evidence. As a relation of cause and effect, it might be expected that one additional year of formal education will raise both labor productivity and labor income. Also important, is the indication that parents’ level of schooling is likely to exert a positive influence on labor income. This variable was used as a proxy of the family background, an attempt to capture the influence of a complex set of non observable variables on formal education. The average schooling in the selected sample is much higher than the official statistics for the country, close to 10 years. A possible implication of such result is the growing importance that private and public institutions are given to education in the labor market. Probably, this fact will tend be more evident in the future, so that policymakers and common people have to consider investment in education a high priority issue, if not the highest one. Other variables specified in the models also appear to be relevant. This is the case of gender, race, and region. Some of these variables explain a significant share of the regional differences found in the Brazilian society. Labor income regional differences reflect the so called contrasting scenarios between rural poor and turbulent growth in urban areas. Our findings indicate that labor income is much higher in the metropolitan areas studied, especially in the southeastern region. Labor income of rural people both in northeast and southeast falls behind the urban values. The age variable tends to be positively associated to labor income up to a given point in time, between 52 and 58 years. This is the interval within which the peak of labor income is observed. Beyond that, it might be expected a depreciation effect on the stock of human capital. As suggested by the variable representing the descendants from Asian people, this ethnic group shows the highest labor income in comparison to other groups in the selected sample. And finally, in spite of exhibiting a slightly higher level of formal education – one year more – the women of the sample earned only 75% of the average labor income of the sample.

ASSUNTO(S)

educação schooling education human capital distribuição de renda brasil mercado de trabalho retorno labor income escolarização capital humano brazil desigualdade

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