Demographic change and the structure of wages
Subtitle: a demand-theoretic analysis for Brazil
By: Ernesto F.L. Amaral ... [et al.].
Contributors: Amaral, Ernesto F. L. 1977-; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 13533.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13533.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 20
Subjects: Labor market -- Brazil; Age distribution (Demography) -- Brazil
Description: With rapidly declining fertility and increased longevity the age structure of the labor force in developing countries has changed rapidly. Changing relative supply of workers by age group, and by educational attainment, can have profound effects on labor costs. Their impacts on earnings have been heavily studied in the United States but have received little attention in Asia and Latin America, where supply shocks are at least as large and have often proceeded less evenly across the economy. We use data on 502 local Brazilian labor markets from Censuses 1970-2000 to examine the extent of substitution among demographic groups as relative supply has changed. The results suggest that age-education groups are imperfect substitutes, so that larger age-education cohorts see depressed wage rates, particularly among more-educated groups. The extent of substitution has increased over time, so that the decreasing size of the least-skilled labor force today is barely raising its remaining members' wages.
Notes: "October 2007."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 19-20).

Also available in PDF from the NBER World Wide Web site (www.nber.org).