Global Journal of Human Social Science, E: Economics, Volume 23 Issue 3

Occupational Polarization in Brazilian Labor Market, 1985-2015 Marina Silva da Cunha Abstract- The objective of this paper is to analyze employment and wages in occupational structure of Brazilian labor market, considering the gender gap as well. The analysis is based on information from 1985 to 2015 and estimates from income equations. Results showed that occupational polarization was more evident for women during the three analyzed decades as these women broadened their participation on labor market regarding occupations that were more abstract and manual, non-routine, as professionals and technicians, in the first group, and domestic services, in the second group. On the other hand, men suffered deep transformations in occupational structure regarding manual and routine activities, from agricultural activities to production and operational ones. It was verified a reduction in inequality in wage distribution with the increase of average wages, although occupations that broadened the demand for labor had relative increase in wages, which suggests polarization in women’s payment. Keywords: occupational polarization, wage inequality, labor market. I. I ntroduction y the beginning of the 2010s, Brazil achieved a remarkable reduction in earnings inequalities in which Gini coefficient fell from 0.50 to 0.41 between the years of 1995 and 2012 (Ferreira et al., 2017). 1 Although income inequality has increased aroun d the world in most of advanced countries and even in the developing ones, as China and India, it was verified a decline in inequality in countries as Brazil and Colombia (Bourguignon, 2018) 2 . In Latin America, especially in Brazil, this decreas e i n inequality is mainly due to changes in labor income (Azevedo et al., 2013, Paiva, 2016). 3 Liter at ure shows important changes in the structure of Brazilian labor market. During this period, it was observed an increase in years of school, reduction in returns in education and experience, increase of minimum wage, expansion of formality and reduction in gender and race wage gap (Neri, 2018; Paiva, 2016). There were also changes in the structure of occupations and reduction in yield spreads among occupations, with higher homogeneity in human capital of individuals, who became more qualified, and falls in cross-sectorial and gender differentials (Martins & Cunha, 2017). However, evidences suggest that Brazilian economic growth is based on an intense labor intake instead of on a deeper structural change (Maia & Menezes, 2014), in which it is observed a slow process of incorporation of new technologies and automation and a decrease of labor in occupations with high percentage of tasks that can be automated, yet, these vulnerable tasks still represented more than 56.5% of formal employment in the country in 2017 (Kubota; Maciente, 2019). 4 This paper contributes to this debate by investigating changes in employment shares and wage distribution on Brazilian labor market during the 1985- 2015 period. Moreover, it was examined whether the occupations were gaining importance in determining the labor market dynamics or not. The studied hypothesis is about occupational polarization under technological approach, which establishes increase in demand for more or less qualified work and reduction of those occupations that require average qualification. Lastly, it was also aimed to analyze differences in Brazilian occupational structure according to gender. Fall in fecundity rate plays an important role to implement woman participation on labor market, however, keeping the familiar model in which woman is responsible for domestic and social roles obliges her to articulate her domestic and professional roles, inhibiting greater economic insertion. In addition, they still face other discriminatory aspects in job offers, as barriers to access leadership positions and lower wages when compared to co-workers (Bruschini & Lombardi, 1996). Among strategies adopted by them to align domestic and work activities is the postponement of maternity, which enables them to dedicate more time to investments in education and career (Cunha et al., 2022). This paper is structured in six parts, besides introduction. The second part presents a brief review of 4 Kubota & Maciente (2019) used information from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), developed under the sponsorship of the United States Department of Labor, and the Annual Information Report (Rais), from the Ministry of Economy (ME), with data only on formal employment. B © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 11 Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 ( )E 1 In the study was used data from the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD) fielded by the Brazilian Census Bureau ( Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística , IBGE). 2 Bourguignon (2018) analyzed information from 1985 to 2012, using World Bank data. 3 The Gini Index for total household income per capita, in Brazil, was 0.59 in 1995 and 0.54 in 2010. But the Gini index for earnings was 0.58 and 0.52, respectively. Author: Professor at the Graduate Studies Program in Economic and the Department of Economic at Universidade Estadual de Maringá, and CNPq researcher, Brazil. e-mail: mscunha@uem.br