Suchergebnisse

Latin America has experienced a process of significant improvement in the labour market during the new millennium. In spite of these advances, these countries continue to suffer from remarkable deficits in their labour markets. The high incidence of informality becomes a source of low wages and lack of social security benefits. Even within formal employment, the significant prevalence of non-permanent contracts frequently leads to consequences similar to those of informal occupations. This paper analyses fixed-term contracts in eight Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru. We aim at estimating the incidence, evolution and characteristics of this phenomenon and assessing to what extent temporary employment generates wage gaps. Econometric techniques are used in order to estimate not only the average wage gap between these two groups of workers but also the penalty suffered by temporary workers located at different points of the wage distribution.

ABSTRACTAlthough inequality and labour informality continue to be distinctive characteristics of Argentina and Brazil, during the last decade the two countries have been successful in reversing the negative trends of the 1990s. This article presents a comparative analysis of the labour formalization process that took place in Argentina and Brazil during the 2000s. It studies the flows towards labour formality, what caused them, and the interrelations of this process with the changes that occurred in labour institutions and the decline in income inequality. The study contributes to two debates: the role of labour market flexibilization in employment formalization, and the decline in income inequality. Most of the literature emphasizes the evolution of returns to education; this study complements this approach by analysing the contribution of formalization to the decline in inequality in Argentina and Brazil. The results show that labour formalization has reached all categories of workers, that it has been accompanied by real minimum wage increases, and that it has had an equalizing effect.

This paper studies, from a long-term perspective, the determinants of immigrant flows to Argentina from Europe and South America. Different econometric models are estimated for both the European waves –during the period from 1870 to 1950– and the Latin American waves –during the period from 1945 to 1976–. Results indicate a shift in the order of importance of the determinants of the entry rates, where the income gap, more than opportunities of employment differentials, appears to be the variable that generates the greatest reaction in the regional migratory flows. On the contrary, European flows seem to have been triggered by the second factor.

RésuméL'étude de la rotation de la main‐d'œuvre est particulièrement importante pour l'Amérique latine où les cycles économiques sont accentués et où la protection sociale est limitée. Les auteurs estiment l'intensité de cette rotation dans six pays d'Amérique latine au cours des années 2000, décomposent les différences observées et examinent les trajectoires des travailleurs. Les taux de rotation de la main‐d'œuvre apparaissent très différents, ce qui s'explique surtout par le degré d'emploi informel et temporaire. Dans tous les cas, une grande partie des sorties de l'emploi se font vers le chômage ou le travail précaire.

ResumenEl estudio de la rotación laboral es muy importante en América Latina, dados sus marcados ciclos económicos y su limitada cobertura de protección social. Se estima aquí la intensidad de las transiciones desde la situación de empleo en seis países latinoamericanos en las dos primeras décadas del milenio, descomponiendo las diferencias observadas y evaluando los destinos laborales de estos trabajadores. Los países analizados muestran tasas de rotación muy diferentes, lo que se explica fundamentalmente por una incidencia disímil del empleo informal y del empleo temporal. En todos los casos, gran parte de las transiciones desde el empleo tienen como destino empleos precarios o el desempleo.

AbstractThe study of labour market turnover is particularly significant in Latin America, which is characterized by marked economic cycles and limited social protection coverage. This article estimates the intensity of transitions from employment in six countries in Latin America in the new millennium and decomposes the differences observed, furthermore evaluating the employment destinations of workers making such transitions. The countries under analysis show very different turnover rates, which are mostly explained by a dissimilar incidence of informal and temporary employment. In all cases, a large share of job exits imply transitions to precarious jobs or unemployment.

ResumenA lo largo de la década de 2000 se observa una recuperación del valor real del salario mínimo en América Latina. Este estudio analiza, de manera comparativa, los impactos distributivos del fortalecimiento de esta institución en cuatro países de la región, Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Uruguay. A partir de técnicas semiparamétricas que permiten estimar funciones de densidad contrafactuales se comprueba que, con excepción de Chile, en los otros tres países dichos cambios han sido igualadores, pues explican una porción significativa de la caída de la desigualdad. A su vez, esta reducción ha estado originada en la compresión de la parte inferior de la distribución salarial.

AbstractThis article provides a comparative analysis of the distribution effects of the increase in the real value of the minimum wage in Latin America during the 2000s in four Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Using semiparametric techniques to estimate counterfactual density functions, the authors find that the increase in the minimum wage had an equalizing effect in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, but not in Chile. This increase accounted for a considerable part of the decline in wage inequality, which was the result of compression at the lower tail of the wage distribution.

RésuméDans les années 2000, la valeur réelle du salaire minimum augmente en Amérique latine. Les auteurs examinent l'effet de cette hausse sur la répartition des salaires, dans une analyse comparative couvrant quatre pays de la région (Argentine, Brésil, Chili et Uruguay). Au moyen de techniques semi‐paramétriques, ils estiment des fonctions de densité contrefactuelles et montrent que cette évolution a un effet égalisateur dans tous ces pays sauf au Chili. En effet, la hausse du minimum légal explique une part importante du recul des inégalités salariales, qui découle avant tout d'une compression de la partie basse de la hiérarchie.