2001年-世界发展银行全球_Education_Earnings_and_Inequality_in_Brazil_1982-98___Implications_for_Education_Policy_62页_3mb

Summary of "Education, Earnings, and Inequality in Brazil, 1982-98"

Core Content

This working paper by Andreas Blom, Lauritz Holm-Nielsen, and Dorte Verner analyzes the relationship between education, earnings, and inequality in Brazil from 1982 to 1998. The study is based on data from the Brazilian labor market survey (PME) and explores how structural economic reforms and education expansion have influenced wage inequality and the returns to education.

Main Findings

• Education and Earnings: The returns to education in Brazil have fundamentally changed over the period. Tertiary education returns increased sharply, while primary and lower secondary returns dropped by 26% and 35%, respectively. The returns to upper secondary education also increased, but not as dramatically as tertiary.

• Wage Inequality: The marginal reduction in wage inequality was primarily driven by the decline in the returns to schooling, rather than an equitable distribution of education. The Gini coefficient for completed schooling decreased from 0.44 in 1982 to 0.36 in 1998, indicating a more equal distribution of education levels.

• Human Capital Accumulation: The stock of human capital increased significantly over the two decades. The average number of years of schooling rose from 5.4 in 1982 to 6.8 in 1998. However, despite this increase, the Brazilian workforce remains under-educated relative to its per capita income.

• Educational Gaps: The gender gap in education has narrowed over time. In 1998, female workers had completed 13% more schooling than males, compared to 20% in 1982. The gap was most pronounced at lower education levels in 1998, indicating a reversal in the pattern of educational disparities.

• Earnings Trends: Earnings by education level diverged significantly after the early 1990s. Workers with no degree and those with tertiary education experienced the highest wage increases, while semi-skilled workers (with secondary education) saw only partial recovery.

• Economic Reforms and Global Integration: Structural economic reforms and global integration have increased the demand for skilled labor. However, the supply of tertiary-educated workers has not kept pace with this demand, suggesting a need for policy intervention to improve access and completion rates.

Key Information

• Data Source: The study uses the Pesquisa Mensal de Emprego (PME) data from the Brazilian Statistical Bureau (IBGE), covering 6 major metropolitan areas.

• Sample Size: The average number of observations per year is 230,000, providing strong statistical significance for findings.

• Methodology: The authors use both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and quantile regression to estimate the returns to education. Quantile regression is particularly useful for analyzing wage differentials across the distribution and is robust to heteroskedasticity and outliers.

• Education Levels: Brazil's education system includes four levels: primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, and tertiary. The average time to complete these levels is longer than planned, indicating inefficiencies.

• Education Supply and Demand: The supply of highly skilled labor is inadequate to meet demand, which has been driven by structural reforms and global integration. This mismatch suggests the need for policies to expand tertiary education access and completion.

Policy Implications

• Need for Expansion: The paper argues that increasing access to and completion of tertiary education is essential to meet the growing demand for skilled labor and to reduce wage inequality.

• Structural Reforms: The economic reforms in Brazil, combined with global integration, have increased the demand for skilled workers, but the supply has not kept up, leading to wage disparities.

• Education System Efficiency: The inefficiencies in the education system, such as high repetition rates and dropout rates, have contributed to the lower returns for primary and secondary education.

• Gender Gaps: The gender gap in education has narrowed, with females gaining more schooling than males, particularly at lower education levels. This suggests a positive trend in educational equity.

Conclusion

The study concludes that while the overall educational attainment in Brazil has increased, the returns to education have become more convex, with higher rewards for tertiary education and lower returns for primary and secondary. This shift has implications for economic growth and wage inequality. The authors recommend policy action to increase access to tertiary education, as the current market for education does not fully accommodate the shifts in demand, especially in the context of global integration and structural reforms.

Structure of the Paper

• Introduction: Sets the context of Brazil's education expansion and economic reforms.
• Data: Describes the PME dataset and its limitations.
• Education System Overview: Details the structure and inefficiencies of the Brazilian education system.
• Descriptive Statistics: Provides insights into educational composition and wage trends over the period.
• Methodology: Explains the use of OLS and quantile regression to estimate returns to education.
• Regression Findings: Presents the results of the wage regression analysis, including the changing returns to education and the implications for policy.

Authors and Contact

• Authors: Andreas Blom, Lauritz Holm-Nielsen, Dorte Verner
• Contact:
  • Andreas Blom: ablon@worldbank.org
  • Lauritz Holm-Nielsen: lholmnielsen@worldbank.org
  • Dorte Verner: dverner@worldbank.org

References

• Data Sources:
  • PME data from IBGE
  • World Bank studies on secondary and tertiary education in Brazil
• Literature:
  • Feenstra and Hanson (1996)
  • Wood (2000)
  • Buchinsky (1998)
• Additional Resources:
  • Appendix C: Complete regression results
  • Appendix D: Graphs and visualizations of regression findings
  • Appendix E: Strategies and recommendations for higher education in Brazil