Publication: Education, Earnings, and Inequality in Brazil, 1982-98 : Implications for Education Policy
Date
2001-10
ISSN
Published
2001-10
Author(s)
Abstract
The educational attainment of
Brazil's labor force, has gradually increased over the
past two decades. At the same time, the government has
pursued a series of economic structural adjustment policies.
The authors investigate how these simultaneous advances have
altered the relationship between labor market earnings, and
education. They find that the returns to education in the
labor market, fundamentally changed between 1982, and 1998.
While the returns to tertiary education increased sharply,
the returns to primary education dropped by 26 percent, and
those to lower secondary, by 35 percent. Moreover, the
authors argue, the marginal reduction in wage inequality
that occurred in this period was linked primarily to a
reduction in the returns to schooling, and only secondarily,
to a more equitable distribution of schooling. The findings
suggest that the supply of highly skilled labor is
inadequate to meet demand. That suggests a need for policy
action aimed at increasing access to, and completion of
tertiary education. Increasing the supply of highly skilled
labor, would improve prospects for both economic growth, and
reduce wage inequality.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Blom, Andreas; Holm-Nielsen, Lauritz; Verner, Dorte. 2001. Education, Earnings, and Inequality in Brazil, 1982-98 : Implications for Education Policy. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2686. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19505 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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