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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2019‒08‒26
three papers chosen by |
| By: | Koppensteiner, Martin Foureaux (University of Surrey); Matheson, Jesse (University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates whether increasing secondary education opportunities influences childbearing among young women in Brazil. We examine a novel dataset reflecting the vast expansion of secondary education in Brazil between 1997 and 2009 and exploit variation in the introduction of schools across 4,884 municipalities to instrument for school enrolment. Our most conservative estimate suggests that for every 9.7 students enrolled there is one fewer teenage births. These findings are robust to a number of specifications and sensitivity tests. Our estimates imply that Brazil's secondary school expansion accounts for 34% of the substantial decline in teenage childbearing observed over the same period. We further look at heterogeneous effects across a number of municipal characteristics and discuss what these results suggest about the mechanisms underlying the school-childbearing relationship. |
| Keywords: | secondary education, teenage childbearing, Brazil |
| JEL: | I20 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12504&r=all |
| By: | Luana Passos (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "The debate around taxation in Brazil has long revolved around issues related to tax burden, efficiency, competitiveness and simplicity. Despite recent fiscal problems and a better understanding of the concentration of income and national wealth, the relevance of a progressive tax system as a tool to fight inequality still enjoys little space in mainstream media discussions. The traditional focus of the Brazilian debate on tax burden is due to the fact that the State absorbs a considerable proportion of gross domestic product (GDP)?approximately 32 per cent in 2016?as taxes. This sets Brazil apart from other countries with similar income levels: its tax burden is one of the highest in Latin America, even greater than in some developed countries, such as Spain and Canada". (...) |
| Keywords: | Fiscal justice, Brazil, taxation, instrument, equality |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:416&r=all |
| By: | Engbom, Niklas; Moser, Christian |
| Abstract: | We show that a minimum wage can have large effects throughout the earnings distribution, using a combination of theory and empirical evidence. To this end, we develop an equilibrium search model featuring empirically relevant worker and firm heterogeneity. We use the estimated model to evaluate a 119 percent increase in the real minimum wage in Brazil from 1996 to 2012. Direct and indirect effects of the policy account for a substantial decline in earnings inequality, with modest negative employment consequences. Using administrative linked employer-employee data and two household surveys, we find reduced-form evidence supporting the model predictions. |
| Keywords: | Worker and Firm Heterogeneity; Equilibrium Search Model; Monopsony; Spillover Effects; Minimum Wage |
| JEL: | E2 E20 E24 E25 E26 E6 E60 E61 E64 J3 J30 J31 J38 J42 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95384&r=all |