This dissertation is composed of two parts. In the first, I study a recent extension of thematernity leave mandate for public sector employees. In the second, I focus on the genderdifferential in housework hours and its evolution in the 2001-2009 period.For the maternity leave part, identification relies on geographical and temporal variationof the extensions. Data are drawn from the Annual Report on Social Information (RAIS)and from the National Household Sample and from the National Household Sample Survey(PNAD). There is some evidence of a modest, though statistically insignificant effect onwages. This evidence is in tune with the international literature and lies within reasonablebounds given by the expected increase in the employees' costs. For fertility, the results arealso similar to the literature, suggesting an increase. Nonetheless, those estimates are notstatistically significant. There is also some evidence of an increase in the attraction of thepublic sector. In summary, results suggest that the extension did not have significant effectson important labor market outcomes, such as wages. This might be indicative that thedistortions generated by the extension were not relevant.The focus of the second part is on the gender differential in housework hours in Braziland its evolution. Data from 2001 and 2009 are drawn from the National Household SampleSurvey, which is representative of the Brazilian households. Results highlight that womendecreased their amount of housework in that period. Cohabiting or married men increasedslightly their amount of housework, whereas single men decreased their amount of housework.According to the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, the observable characteristics explain verylittle of the gap in each year. Nonetheless, a substantial part of the change in the gap can be attributed to changes in observable characteristics, mainly changes in the levels of economicpower, cohort and cohort-education interaction.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
