The Effects of Expanding Education on the Distribution of Income in Cear.

education, poverty, inequality

Teorizar com a Grounded Theory: um caminho metodológico para as pesquisas em comunicação

The objective of this paper, based on bibliographical research, is to inscribe a reflection on the process of theorizing, following the constructivist grounded theory methodology guidelines. It also proposes to present and discuss the type of theory that can be produced with this qualitative methodological path, highlighting its potential for writing communication research that, through structured and progressive analysis procedures, seeks to generate substantive theoretical explanations about a problem delimited in a specific area, based on data (interviews, documents, media materialities, etc.). Finally, as a practical implication, this paper provides some guidelines on conducting research with grounded theory by elucidating the “troublesome trinity” characteristic of the methodology: theoretical sampling, constant comparison method, and theoretical saturation.O objetivo deste trabalho, direcionado por uma pesquisa bibliográfica, é inscrever uma reflexão sobre o processo de teorizar seguindo as diretrizes da metodologia grounded theory construtivista. Este artigo busca também apresentar e discutir o tipo de teoria que pode ser produzido com esse caminho metodológico qualitativo, ressaltando, desse modo, o potencial que ele oferece para a edificação de pesquisas em comunicação que, considerando um problema delimitado em uma área específica, busquem gerar explanações teóricas de processos sociais enraizadas nos dados (entrevistas, documentos, materialidades midiáticas etc.). Como implicação prática, por fim, são fornecidos alguns direcionamentos sobre como conduzir investigações com a grounded theory ao elucidar a “tríade problemática”, característica da metodologia, a saber: amostragem teórica, método comparativo constante e saturação teórica

Educational expansion and income distribution. A Micro-Simulation for Ceará

Does more education really mean less poverty and less inequality? How much less? What are the transmission mechanisms? This paper presents the results of a micro-simulation exercise for the Brazilian State of Ceará, which suggests that broad-based policies aimed at increasing educational attainment would have substantial impacts on poverty reduction, but muted effects on inequality. These results are highly dependent on assumptions about the behaviour of returns to education, both for the distribution of earnings and for the distribution of household income per capita. A large share of the poverty reducing effect of more education operates through greater incentives for labour force participation among the poor, and through reductions in fertility. Both of these effects function largely through decisions made by poor women.education, poverty, inequality

Beyond Oaxaca-Blinder: Accounting for Differences in Household Income Distributions Across Countries

This paper develops a micro-econometric method to account for differences across distributions of household income. Going beyond the determination of earnings in labor markets, we also estimate statistical models for occupational choice and for the conditional distributions of education, fertility and non-labor incomes. We import combinations of estimated parameters from these models to simulate counterfactual income distributions. This allows us to decompose differences between functionals of two income distributions (such as inequality or poverty measures) into shares due to differences in the structure of labor market returns (price effects); differences in the occupational structure; and differences in the underlying distribution of assets (endowment effects). We apply the method to the differences between the Brazilian income distribution and those of the United States and Mexico, and find that most of Brazil's excess income inequality is due to underlying inequalities in the distribution of two key endowments: access to education and to sources of non-labor income, mainly pensions.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39863/3/wp478.pd

Ex-ante Evaluation of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: The Case of Bolsa Escola

Cash transfers targeted to poor people, but conditional on some behavior on their part, such as school attendance or regular visits to health care facilities, are being adopted in a growing number of developing countries. Even where ex-post impact evaluations have been conducted, a number of policy-relevant counterfactual questions have remained unanswered. These are questions about the potential impact of changes in program design, such as benefit levels or the choice of the means-test, on both the current welfare and the behavioral response of household members. This paper proposes a method to simulate the effects of those alternative program designs on welfare and behavior, based on micro-econometrically estimated models of household behavior. In an application to Brazil’s recently introduced federal Bolsa Escola program, we find a surprisingly strong effect of the conditionality on school attendance, but a muted impact of the transfers on the reduction of current poverty and inequality levels.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39901/3/wp516.pd

Beyond Oaxaca-Blinder: accounting for differences in household income distributions across countries

This paper develops a micro-econometric method to account for differences across distributions of household income. Going beyond the determination of earnings in labor markets, we also estimate statistical models for occupational choice and for the conditional distributions of education, fertility and non-labor incomes. We import combinations of estimated parameters from these models to simulate counterfactual income distributions. This allows us to decompose differences between functionals of two income distributions (such as inequality or poverty measures) into shares due to differences in the structure of labor market returns (price effects); differences in the occupational structure; and differences in the underlying distribution of assets (endowment effects). We apply the method to the differences between the Brazilian income distribution and those of the United States and Mexico, and find that most of Brazil's excess income inequality is due to underlying inequalities in the distribution of two key endowments: access to education and to sources of non-labor income, mainly pensions.

Conditional cash transfers, schoolingand child labor: micro-simulating bolsa escola

Cash transfers targeted to poor people, but conditional on some behavior on their part, such as school attendance or regular visits to health care facilities, are being adopted in a growing number of developing countries. Even where ex-post impact evaluations have been conducted, a number of policy-relevant counterfactual questions have remained unanswered. These are questions about the potential impact of changes in program design, such as benefit levels or the choice of the means-test, on both the current welfare and the behavioral response of household members. This paper proposes a method to simulate the effects of those alternative program designs on welfare and behavior, based on microeconometrically estimated models of household behavior. In an application to Brazil’s recently introduced federal Bolsa Escola program, we find a surprisingly strong effect of the conditionality on school attendance, but a muted impact of the transfers on the reduction of current poverty and inequality levels.Conditional Transfers; Demand for Schooling, Child Labor JEL Codes: I38, J13, J22, J24

Rising Food Prices and Household Welfare: Evidence from Brazil in 2008

Food price inflation in Brazil in the twelve months to June 2008 was 18 percent, while overall inflation was 5.3 percent. This paper uses spatially disaggregated monthly data on consumer prices and two different household surveys to estimate the welfare consequences of these food price increases, and their distribution across households. Because Brazil is a large food producer, with a predominantly wage-earning agricultural labor force, our estimates include general equilibrium effects on market and transfer incomes, as well as the standard estimates of changes in consumer surplus. While the expenditure (or consumer surplus) effects were large, negative and markedly regressive everywhere, the market income effect was positive and progressive, particularly in rural areas. Because of this effect on the rural poor, and of the partial protection afforded by increases in two large social assistance benefits, the overall impact of higher food prices in Brazil was U-shaped, with the middle-income groups suffering larger proportional losses than the very poor. Nevertheless, since Brazil is 80 percent urban, higher food prices still led to a greater incidence and depth of poverty at the national level.food prices, welfare, poverty, inequality, price change incidence curve, Brazil

Beyond Oaxaca-Blinder: Accounting for Differences in Household Income Distributions Across Countries

This paper develops a micro-econometric method to account for differences across distributions of household income. Going beyond the determination of earnings in labor markets, we also estimate statistical models for occupational choice and for the conditional distributions of education, fertility and non-labor incomes. We import combinations of estimated parameters from these models to simulate counterfactual income distributions. This allows us to decompose differences between functionals of two income distributions (such as inequality or poverty measures) into shares due to differences in the structure of labor market returns (price effects); differences in the occupational structure; and differences in the underlying distribution of assets (endowment effects). We apply the method to the differences between the Brazilian income distribution and those of the United States and Mexico, and find that most of Brazil's excess income inequality is due to underlying inequalities in the distribution of two key endowments: access to education and to sources of non-labor income, mainly pensions.Inequality, Distribution, Micro-simulations

Ex-ante evaluation of conditional cash transfer programs: the case of bolsa escola

Cash transfers targeted to poor people, but conditional on some behavior on their part, such as school attendance or regular visits to health care facilities, are being adopted in a growing number of developing countries. Even where ex-post impact evaluations have been conducted, a number of policy-relevant counterfactual questions have remained unanswered. These are questions about the potential impact of changes in program design, such as benefit levels or the choice of the means-test, on both the current welfare and the behavioral response of household members. This paper proposes a method to simulate the effects of those alternative program designs on welfare and behavior, based on microeconometrically estimated models of household behavior. In an application to Brazil's recently introduced federal Bolsa Escola program, the authors find a surprisingly strong effect of the conditionality on school attendance, but a muted impact of the transfers on the reduction of current poverty and inequality levelsEnvironmental Economics&Policies,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Public Health Promotion,Scientific Research&Science Parks,Youth and Governance,Street Children,Environmental Economics&Policies,Poverty Assessment,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis