Human Capital and Earnings Inequality in Brazil, 1988-98 : Quantile Regression Evidence

Arabsheibani, G. Reza ; Galrã ; o Carneiro, Francisco ; Henley, Andrew

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT;    EARNINGS DISTRIBUTION;    REGRESSION ANALYSIS;    RATES OF RETURN;    MACROECONOMIC STABILIZATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3147
RP-ID  :  WPS3147

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The authors undertake an empiricalexamination of rates of return to human capital for men inBrazil, through the period of macroeconomic stabilizationand trade liberalization, using data from the 1988, 1992,and 1998 Brazilian household surveys (Pesquisa Nacional porAmostra de Domic�os, PNAD). The authors estimatesimultaneous quantile equations to gain an insight on theimpact of human capital on wages across the hourly earningsdistribution. They conclude that there is evidence ofgrowing inequality in rates of return to education inBrazil. But the authors find evidence that education is nolonger used as a screening device in the labor market, butrather rewarded for its innate association with higherproductivity. Although increases in rates of return toeducation have been more pronounced at the top of theearnings distribution, this has not led to increasedinequality. This is because the levels of education andother labor market-rewarded endowments have increased andoffset the rate of return effect.