http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/339 Wed, 14 Oct 2026 13:58:53 GMT 2026-10-14T13:58:53Z http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9212 Articulo Symposium: The Labor Market in Latin America; Económica; vol. 50, no. 1-2 Using data from the National Urban Employment Survey, 1988-1999, this paper tries to separate the local and the national forces behind the increasing wage inequality in Mexico. The paper analyzes the trend of 3 different inequality measures in 16 different local labor markets and shows that the rising Mexican wage inequality is concentrated in the southern and central cities, while northern border cities seem to have experienced significant drops in wage inequality. Using the variability in the inequality measures at a local level, the analysis combines cross section and time series data to understand the role that local demographic, industrial and economic characteristics have played in the rising inequality. Drops in local economic activity, employment in the service sector, and occupational opportunities for executives seem to be positively correlated with the rising wage inequality, while occupational opportunities for moderately educated workers seem to be negatively correlated with it. Specialization of the local economies in the production of tradable goods shows contradicting results and no conclusion can be drawn from them. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9212 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z Using data from the National Urban Employment Survey, 1988-1999, this paper tries to separate the local and the national forces behind the increasing wage inequality in Mexico. The paper analyzes the trend of 3 different inequality measures in 16 different local labor markets and shows that the rising Mexican wage inequality is concentrated in the southern and central cities, while northern border cities seem to have experienced significant drops in wage inequality. Using the variability in the inequality measures at a local level, the analysis combines cross section and time series data to understand the role that local demographic, industrial and economic characteristics have played in the rising inequality. Drops in local economic activity, employment in the service sector, and occupational opportunities for executives seem to be positively correlated with the rising wage inequality, while occupational opportunities for moderately educated workers seem to be negatively correlated with it. Specialization of the local economies in the production of tradable goods shows contradicting results and no conclusion can be drawn from them. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9211 Articulo Symposium: The Labor Market in Latin America; Económica; vol. 50, no. 1-2 Latin American labor markets feature large informal sectors. In practice, however, the simple duality formal-informal has many different shades: firms tend to comply more with certain legislation than with other. Recent evidence has suggested that minimum wages have significant effects on the informal sector (Bell (1997) for Mexico; Gindling and Terrell (2004) for Costa Rica; Lemos (2004) and Fajnzylver (2001) for Brazil; and Maloney and Nuñez (2004) for Colombia). Further, some of this evidence suggests effects throughout a large part of the wage distribution. This has been interpreted as evidence of 'lighthouse' or numeraire effects. We test this hypothesis using panel data from Peru to identify effects throughout the wage distribution. Although there are some effects on informal sector workers, overall results provide little support for numeraire or 'lighthouse' effects. Labor monthly earnings are affected only at the bottom of the distribution (0.25-0.60 of the minimum wage), made up mostly of informal workers, and for formal workers earning between the old the new minima. Negative effects on the probability of retaining employed status after a minimum wage shock are either weak or non significant for wage earners below the minimum wage, but significant for formal workers 'trapped' between minima, and for both formal and informal earning between 1.2 and 2 times the minimum wage. Independent workers earning below minimum suffer negative effects on both earnings and employment. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9211 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z Latin American labor markets feature large informal sectors. In practice, however, the simple duality formal-informal has many different shades: firms tend to comply more with certain legislation than with other. Recent evidence has suggested that minimum wages have significant effects on the informal sector (Bell (1997) for Mexico; Gindling and Terrell (2004) for Costa Rica; Lemos (2004) and Fajnzylver (2001) for Brazil; and Maloney and Nuñez (2004) for Colombia). Further, some of this evidence suggests effects throughout a large part of the wage distribution. This has been interpreted as evidence of 'lighthouse' or numeraire effects. We test this hypothesis using panel data from Peru to identify effects throughout the wage distribution. Although there are some effects on informal sector workers, overall results provide little support for numeraire or 'lighthouse' effects. Labor monthly earnings are affected only at the bottom of the distribution (0.25-0.60 of the minimum wage), made up mostly of informal workers, and for formal workers earning between the old the new minima. Negative effects on the probability of retaining employed status after a minimum wage shock are either weak or non significant for wage earners below the minimum wage, but significant for formal workers 'trapped' between minima, and for both formal and informal earning between 1.2 and 2 times the minimum wage. Independent workers earning below minimum suffer negative effects on both earnings and employment. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9210 Articulo Symposium: The Labor Market in Latin America; Económica; vol. 50, no. 1-2 Minimum wage legislation is potentially a powerful policy tool to help alleviate poverty in developing countries. This is especially the case when the detrimental employment effects are small. However, of critical importance is whether, and to what extent, minimum wage increases will generate price effects that might adversely affect the poor. This might occur, firstly, if the poor consume a lot of goods produced in sectors dominated by minimum wage workforces. Secondly, this may occur if minimum wage increases raise overall prices, as the poor disproportionately suffer from inflationary costs. In this paper we estimate minimum wage price effects for Brazil, using monthly household and firm data over nearly two decades. We find that minimum wage increases significantly raise overall prices in Brazil. Furthermore, we examine the price effect of the minimum wage separately on poor and rich consumers. The poor experience inflation rates three times higher that the latter, in the immediate aftermath of a minimum wage increase, with the differential effect diminishing over time. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9210 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z Minimum wage legislation is potentially a powerful policy tool to help alleviate poverty in developing countries. This is especially the case when the detrimental employment effects are small. However, of critical importance is whether, and to what extent, minimum wage increases will generate price effects that might adversely affect the poor. This might occur, firstly, if the poor consume a lot of goods produced in sectors dominated by minimum wage workforces. Secondly, this may occur if minimum wage increases raise overall prices, as the poor disproportionately suffer from inflationary costs. In this paper we estimate minimum wage price effects for Brazil, using monthly household and firm data over nearly two decades. We find that minimum wage increases significantly raise overall prices in Brazil. Furthermore, we examine the price effect of the minimum wage separately on poor and rich consumers. The poor experience inflation rates three times higher that the latter, in the immediate aftermath of a minimum wage increase, with the differential effect diminishing over time. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9209 Articulo Symposium: The Labor Market in Latin America; Económica; vol. 50, no. 1-2 This paper applies newly developed methods for the computation of income polarization by Duclos-Esteban-Ray (2004) to the Argentine case between 1998 and 2002. We find that despite the slowdown in the growth of the inequality, the rate of growth of polarization increased every year. Low-income groups in the population were those who contributed the most to polarization. The results of a micro-decomposition show that on average all the effects led to an increase in polarization between 1998 and 2002. Although most of the change came from unobservable factors, region, returns to education and return to experience had a moderate impact. Furthermore, polarization increased within every geographic region. This change had different intensity throughout them leading to distinct levels of "tension" within the country. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9209 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z This paper applies newly developed methods for the computation of income polarization by Duclos-Esteban-Ray (2004) to the Argentine case between 1998 and 2002. We find that despite the slowdown in the growth of the inequality, the rate of growth of polarization increased every year. Low-income groups in the population were those who contributed the most to polarization. The results of a micro-decomposition show that on average all the effects led to an increase in polarization between 1998 and 2002. Although most of the change came from unobservable factors, region, returns to education and return to experience had a moderate impact. Furthermore, polarization increased within every geographic region. This change had different intensity throughout them leading to distinct levels of "tension" within the country. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9208 Articulo Symposium: The Labor Market in Latin America; Económica; vol. 50, no. 1-2 Applying the methodology developed in Ñopo (2004), I analyze the evolution of the gender wage gap in Peru from 1986 to 2000. The advantage of such methodology is two-fold. First, it recognizes that the supports of observable characteristics distributions differ substantially. Second, it provides deeper insights regarding the distribution of the unexplained gender differences in earnings. For the period under analysis, males earn on average 45% more than females. This wage gap is composed of three additive elements: 11% differences in supports, 6% differences in distributions of individual characteristics and 28% unexplainable differences. About half of these unexplainable differences occur in the highest quintile of the wage distribution. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9208 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z Applying the methodology developed in Ñopo (2004), I analyze the evolution of the gender wage gap in Peru from 1986 to 2000. The advantage of such methodology is two-fold. First, it recognizes that the supports of observable characteristics distributions differ substantially. Second, it provides deeper insights regarding the distribution of the unexplained gender differences in earnings. For the period under analysis, males earn on average 45% more than females. This wage gap is composed of three additive elements: 11% differences in supports, 6% differences in distributions of individual characteristics and 28% unexplainable differences. About half of these unexplainable differences occur in the highest quintile of the wage distribution. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9207 Articulo Symposium: The Labor Market in Latin America; Económica; vol. 50, no. 1-2 The papers included in this special issue of the journal <i>Económica</i> are the result of a long period of gestation. I am glad to see that the final outcome contains substantial value added. The project is one of the activities undertaken by the Argentine Chapter of the Network of Inequality and Poverty of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association that I coordinate since 2002. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar:80/handle/10915/9207 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z The papers included in this special issue of the journal <i>Económica</i> are the result of a long period of gestation. I am glad to see that the final outcome contains substantial value added. The project is one of the activities undertaken by the Argentine Chapter of the Network of Inequality and Poverty of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association that I coordinate since 2002.