IHD-Cebrap project on Labour Market Inequality in Brazil and India

The role played by minimum wage policy in Brazil and India is very different due to the contrasting nature, coverage, structure and implementation of the systems. For instance, while Brazil has an annually adjusted unique national minimum wage for all workers with a comparatively high level of enforcement, in India, there are large numbers of minimum wages for different occupations, varying between States, which makes the system of minimum wages extremely complicated, and enforcement is very uneven. This paper examines the system of minimum wages in both countries and compares the impact of wage policy on labour market inequalities

Can minimum wages help to reduce labour market inequality? : experiences in India and Brazil; project paper H (c)

The proportion of women workers receiving less than minimum wages is much higher than that of men in India, though there is little difference in Brazil. In India, among social groups, Scheduled Tribes are particularly disadvantaged. In Brazil white workers are less likely than non-whites to fall below the minimum wage. Minimum wage policy seeks to establish wage floors in order to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation and to establish norms to help ensure equal pay for equal work. It may also act as a macroeconomic policy tool because of their impact on aggregate demand

IHD-Cebrap project on Labour Market Inequality in Brazil and India

As inequality is embedded in history and society, this paper provides a long term historical framework for the analysis of labour market inequality in India. Inequality depends on forces and factors at different levels, local, national, or international, either directly – through the mechanisms of globalization – or indirectly, in the ideas, models and theories that set the global stage and eventually influence national behaviour. The role of these factors and their intersection is examined as part of a longer term historical process that shapes economies, labour markets and labour institutions, and so determines the pattern of inequality

Report on Policy Conference on Promoting Inclusion and Reducing Disparaities in the Labour Market in Brazil and India : project paper G.1

This dialogue aimed to generate debate around a wide range of policy issues, and in particular to examine two specific policies: minimum wages, and vocational training and skills development, which both have a strong impact on labour market inequality. Inclusive development considers labour market policy measures that can widen access to opportunities, and social protection policies that can reduce disparities in income and access. Better enforcement could also help in increasing the potential impacts of minimum wages on reduction of poverty and inequality