Trade Reforms and Industry Wage Premium: Evidence from Argentina

This paper studies the impact of Argentina trade liberalization during the nineties on the industry wage premium structure. We find that accounting for unobserved timeinvariant industry characteristics is crucial. When we do not control for industry fixed effects, we find that workers in protected sectors receive lower wages. However, introducing industry fixed effects reverses the results; tariff protection creates sector specific rents that are in part translated to workers in terms of greater wages. Since Argentina’s tariff structure during this period protected relatively more sectors employing higher proportions of skilled workers, nineties trade policy may have had an adverse effect on Argentina’s income distribution.Este trabajo estudia el impacto de la liberalización comercial argentina en los noventa sobre la estructura de las primas salariales sectoriales. Encontramos que resulta crucial controlar por características sectoriales inobservables e invariantes en el tiempo. Cuando no incluimos efectos fijos por industrias, encontramos que los trabajadores en sectores protegidos reciben menores salarios. Al incluirlos se revierten los resultados; la protección crea rentas sectoriales que se trasladan a los trabajadores vía mayores salarios. Como la estructura tarifaria argentina durante este período protegió relativamente más a sectores calificados, la política comercial podría haber tenido un efecto adverso en la distribución del ingreso.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociale

Trade Reforms and Industry Wage Premium: Evidence from Argentina

This paper studies the impact of Argentina trade liberalization during the nineties on the industry wage premium structure. We find that accounting for unobserved timeinvariant industry characteristics is crucial. When we do not control for industry fixed effects, we find that workers in protected sectors receive lower wages. However, introducing industry fixed effects reverses the results; tariff protection creates sector specific rents that are in part translated to workers in terms of greater wages. Since Argentina’s tariff structure during this period protected relatively more sectors employing higher proportions of skilled workers, nineties trade policy may have had an adverse effect on Argentina’s income distribution.Este trabajo estudia el impacto de la liberalización comercial argentina en los noventa sobre la estructura de las primas salariales sectoriales. Encontramos que resulta crucial controlar por características sectoriales inobservables e invariantes en el tiempo. Cuando no incluimos efectos fijos por industrias, encontramos que los trabajadores en sectores protegidos reciben menores salarios. Al incluirlos se revierten los resultados; la protección crea rentas sectoriales que se trasladan a los trabajadores vía mayores salarios. Como la estructura tarifaria argentina durante este período protegió relativamente más a sectores calificados, la política comercial podría haber tenido un efecto adverso en la distribución del ingreso.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociale

Income Distribution in Latin America: The Evolution in the Last 20 Years: A Global Approach

While Latin America has historically been considered a region of very high inequality, the performance of most Latin American countries in terms of reduction of income inequality has been remarkable good in the first decade of this century. Given that those improvements took place in a context of rising inequality in most of the world, the evolution of income inequality in the region has caught the attention of researchers and policy makers around the world. Taking advantage of a large database of comparable microdata from household surveys, this article updates the evidence on the trends of income inequality in all Latin American countries for the period 1992-2015. It also provides an analysis of how the distinctive evolution of income inequality in this century in Latin America has changed the position of the different countries of the region in both, the global distribution of income in the world and the global distribution of income in Latin America. Finally, the paper decomposes the evolution of income inequality in several countries of the region, discussing the role played by several factors on that evolution.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Income Distribution in Latin America: The Evolution in the Last 20 Years: A Global Approach

While Latin America has historically been considered a region of very high inequality, the performance of most Latin American countries in terms of reduction of income inequality has been remarkable good in the first decade of this century. Given that those improvements took place in a context of rising inequality in most of the world, the evolution of income inequality in the region has caught the attention of researchers and policy makers around the world. Taking advantage of a large database of comparable microdata from household surveys, this article updates the evidence on the trends of income inequality in all Latin American countries for the period 1992-2015. It also provides an analysis of how the distinctive evolution of income inequality in this century in Latin America has changed the position of the different countries of the region in both, the global distribution of income in the world and the global distribution of income in Latin America. Finally, the paper decomposes the evolution of income inequality in several countries of the region, discussing the role played by several factors on that evolution.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Income Distribution in Latin America: The Evolution in the Last 20 Years: A Global Approach

While Latin America has historically been considered a region of very high inequality, the performance of most Latin American countries in terms of reduction of income inequality has been remarkable good in the first decade of this century. Given that those improvements took place in a context of rising inequality in most of the world, the evolution of income inequality in the region has caught the attention of researchers and policy makers around the world. Taking advantage of a large database of comparable microdata from household surveys, this article updates the evidence on the trends of income inequality in all Latin American countries for the period 1992-2015. It also provides an analysis of how the distinctive evolution of income inequality in this century in Latin America has changed the position of the different countries of the region in both, the global distribution of income in the world and the global distribution of income in Latin America. Finally, the paper decomposes the evolution of income inequality in several countries of the region, discussing the role played by several factors on that evolution.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Estructura productiva y retornos a la educación: Evidencia para América Latina

Este trabajo estudia la evolución de las primas salariales por nivel educativo y su relación con la estructura productiva para dieciséis países de América Latina, utilizando datos de encuestas de hogares y de cuentas nacionales en el período 1991-2015. La evidencia presentada sugiere que el cambio en la estructura productiva es un factor relevante para dar cuenta de la dinámica de la desigualdad salarial. En particular, cuando crece la participación en el valor agregado de los sectores más intensivos en trabajo calificado, aumentan significativamente las primas salariales por educación.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

Trade Reforms and Industry Wage Premium: Evidence from Argentina

This paper studies the impact of Argentina trade liberalization during the nineties on the industry wage premium structure. We find that accounting for unobserved timeinvariant industry characteristics is crucial. When we do not control for industry fixed effects, we find that workers in protected sectors receive lower wages. However, introducing industry fixed effects reverses the results; tariff protection creates sector specific rents that are in part translated to workers in terms of greater wages. Since Argentina’s tariff structure during this period protected relatively more sectors employing higher proportions of skilled workers, nineties trade policy may have had an adverse effect on Argentina’s income distribution.Este trabajo estudia el impacto de la liberalización comercial argentina en los noventa sobre la estructura de las primas salariales sectoriales. Encontramos que resulta crucial controlar por características sectoriales inobservables e invariantes en el tiempo. Cuando no incluimos efectos fijos por industrias, encontramos que los trabajadores en sectores protegidos reciben menores salarios. Al incluirlos se revierten los resultados; la protección crea rentas sectoriales que se trasladan a los trabajadores vía mayores salarios. Como la estructura tarifaria argentina durante este período protegió relativamente más a sectores calificados, la política comercial podría haber tenido un efecto adverso en la distribución del ingreso.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociale

Estructura productiva y desigualdad salarial: evidencia para América Latina

Este trabajo estudia la evolución de las brechas salariales por nivel educativo y su relación con la estructura productiva para 16 países de América Latina, utilizando microdatos de encuestas de hogares e información de Cuentas Nacionales en el período 1991-2015. La evidencia sugiere que el cambio en la estructura productiva está estrechamente correlacionado con la dinámica de la desigualdad salarial en la región. En particular, cuando crece la participación en el valor agregado de los sectores más intensivos en trabajo calificado, aumentan significativamente las brechas salariales por educación.This paper studies the evolution of skill premia and its relationship with the productive structure for sixteen countries in Latin America, using microdata from household surveys and information from National Accounts for the period 1991-2015. The evidence suggests that the change in the productive structure is significantly correlated to the dynamics of wage inequality. In particular, when the share in total value added of sectors that are more intensive in high-skilled labor grows, the skill premium increases significantly.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Estructura productiva y desigualdad salarial: evidencia para América Latina

Este trabajo estudia la evolución de las brechas salariales por nivel educativo y su relación con la estructura productiva para 16 países de América Latina, utilizando microdatos de encuestas de hogares e información de Cuentas Nacionales en el período 1991-2015. La evidencia sugiere que el cambio en la estructura productiva está estrechamente correlacionado con la dinámica de la desigualdad salarial en la región. En particular, cuando crece la participación en el valor agregado de los sectores más intensivos en trabajo calificado, aumentan significativamente las brechas salariales por educación.This paper studies the evolution of skill premia and its relationship with the productive structure for sixteen countries in Latin America, using microdata from household surveys and information from National Accounts for the period 1991-2015. The evidence suggests that the change in the productive structure is significantly correlated to the dynamics of wage inequality. In particular, when the share in total value added of sectors that are more intensive in high-skilled labor grows, the skill premium increases significantly.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Income distribution in Latin America: the evolution in the last 20 years : A global approach

While Latin America has historically been considered a region of very high inequality, the performance of most Latin American countries in terms of reduction of income inequality has been remarkable good in the first decade of this century. Given that those improvements took place in a context of rising inequality in most of the world, the evolution of income inequality in the region has caught the attention of researchers and policy makers around the world. Taking advantage of a large database of comparable microdata from household surveys, this article updates the evidence on the trends of income inequality in all Latin American countries for the period 1992-2015. It also provides an analysis of how the distinctive evolution of income inequality in this century in Latin America has changed the position of the different countries of the region in both, the global distribution of income in the world and the global distribution of income in Latin America. Finally, the paper decomposes the evolution of income inequality in several countries of the region, discussing the role played by several factors on that evolution.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociale