The economics of racial discrimination / Os aspectos econômicos da discriminação racial no Brasil

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

22/03/2012

RESUMO

The objective of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the economics of racial discrimination in Brazil, in view of the already documented economic disparity in the outcomes of white and non-white populations. To that end, a comprehensive review of the existing debate in the literature is carried out, defining also the concepts of race and discrimination as a result of a problem of asymmetric information in the labor market, associated with pre-established beliefs about groups. In addition, using data from the 2000 census, the hypothesis of error in measurement in the indicator variable \"race\" is investigated, since, if the classification received by the worker in the labor market does not coincide with their statement in the census, it is necessary to correct estimation procedures in order to avoid biased results, which turns out to substantially raise the estimated wage differential between whites and non-whites. Then, using data from national household surveys between 1992 and 2009, the evolution of differences is also studied, applying the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the mean and the quantiles, adjusted to the problem of selection bias. In the case of quantiles, unconditional quantile regression is used. Moreover, the hypothesis that browns and blacks constitute a single racial group is also tested, taking into account regional differences in Brazil. In the case of average wages, the results point to a narrowing in the wage gap, due to the reduction of disparities in human capital, although the unexplained fraction attributable to discrimination remains constant over the period. Besides that, it is shown that there are significant differences between browns and blacks in the Northeast, which are not seen in the South and the state of São Paulo. Analyzing, however, individuals occupying similar positions in the salary scale, it is seen that racial discrimination seems to be relevant only amongst the poorest, and most of the wage differential is explained by the wide difference in the education of whites and nonwhites, which seems to positively correlate with income. Finally, the effect of spatial segregation in the income of workers is estimated using data of elementary schools in São Paulo. It is shown that there is a positive effect on white and Asian people, while segregation seems to decrease wages of browns and blacks. This different effect may be attributed to the virtual absence of blacks and browns in private schools. In public education, however, there is little separation, which indicates that lack of access to social networks and better quality schools are more important than the variable \"race\" to explain wage differences.

ASSUNTO(S)

discriminação racial - aspectos econômicos discrimination econometria economia economia do trabalho labor economics public policy

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