Wages and employment in the formal Brazilian agricultural labor market

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the composition of formal employment and wage differentials in the Brazilian agricultural sector, as well as in its subsectors and groups, based on data from the Annual Social Information Relation (RAIS), from 2007 to 2016. estimated mincerian equations, seeking to identify wage differentials considering both individual and job characteristics. The results show that the relative participation in the Brazilian formal labor market of the agricultural sector had a decrease in the analyzed period. Already in the analysis of the sector itself, the subsector agriculture showed a significant reduction in its proportion of total employment, to the detriment of the expansion of livestock. Regarding the wage equations, the results point to an expected relation to the individual characteristics, with emphasis on the wage return for the most qualified individuals. Regarding the characteristics of the jobs, the results suggest that there is a process of decreasing wage differentials between the large economic sectors, however, there is an increase in these wage differentials in the agricultural sector.