No abstract

No abstract

This paper studies the incidence and heterogeneity of labour informality in six Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru. We divide workers into five work statuses: formal wage-employed, formal self-employed, upper-tier informal wage-employed, lower-tier informal wage-employed, and informal self-employed. We evaluate the patterns of the occupational turnover between these work statuses and assess their impact on wage dynamics. In all the countries, wages are highest for formal workers and lowest for lower-tier informal jobs. The proportion of formal workers who maintain their work status of origin or move up the job ladder is significantly higher than those who transition into lower-paying work statuses. However, despite the high labour turnover experienced by lower-tier informal wage employees, most failed to move up the wage ladder. Education plays an important role, as it increases the probability of transitioning into a better job and, within informality, the chance of better wages.

Este artículo se propone contribuir a la comprensión de los mecanismos explicativos de los cambios en la participación laboral de las mujeres de sectores populares en Argentina, prestando particular atención a cómo se vincula la Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH) con otros determinantes relevantes. El abordaje es cuantitativo de tipo dinámico, centrado en las transiciones laborales que conforman los dos componentes de la participación laboral. A través de un modelo logístico, se estiman las probabilidades de salir y entrar del/al mercado de trabajo para las mujeres de nivel educativo bajo. El análisis destaca una serie de heterogeneidades en los cambios en la participación laboral de las mujeres bajo estudio dependiendo del vínculo entre la AUH y otros factores explicativos.

The aim of this paper is to identify the scope and patterns of the structural transformation as evidenced by changes in occupations and their task content, and their impact on employment, earnings and income distribution in Argentina during the new millennium. Results show that the changes in jobs did not follow the same pattern as those in earnings. In particular, earnings grew but employment shares fell in low-paying occupations. The macroeconomic conditions, production structure, and labour market institutions seem to shape the impact of technology on job demand and on earnings distribution. Overall, the findings point at the need for a broader perspective with a view to achieving a better understanding of the extent to which these factors may have affected the adoption of technology and the composition of employment in a country characterized by high economic instability and dramatic changes in their productive structure.