Returns to Education and Wage Differentials in Brazil: A Quantile Approach

Abstract

This paper uses quantile regression techniques to analyze the returns to education across the conditional distribution of wages from individuals, separated both by gender and skin color, while accounting for the endogeneity of education decisions. Are the returns to education heterogeneous across the conditional distribution of earnings? Using data from the 1996 PNAD, the results indicate that the returns to education are, indeed, significantly heterogeneous across the distribution of earnings, as well as a considerable wage gap between the groups, according to gender and skin color.