that followed from a reduction in the average degree of specialization across households as women entered the labor force (Korenman and Neumark, 1991). As reported in Table 1, available data in Costa Rica and Argentina indicate a change in the patterns of family formation, with marriages in relative decline and consensual unions becoming relatively more common. Thus, the rising wage premium for married males may reflect a return to the value of marriage as a sign of personal attributes such as stability and commitment.

In Brazil, black and mulatto workers earn wages substantially lower than granted by measured characteristics (on average, 20 to 25% less than whites in 1989) while, despite their small number, those with Asian ethnicity enjoy a huge wage premium (an average 28% more than whites in 1989). The wage disadvantage of black and mulatto workers tends to be higher at the upper quantiles. Over the period, average wages grew relatively more for non-whites, other factors considered. However, progress was generally rather weak for blacks and stronger only at the upper quantiles for mulatos. By 1995, on average, blacks and mulatos were still earning wages 22% and 15% lower than whites, respectively. Asians expanded their wage advantage substantially, especially at high quantiles.

Significant regional differences in wages emerge between the more developed and the less developed regions. Early in the period, workers living in the urban centers of the poorest region in Brazil (northeast) earned on average 24% less than those in the richest region (southeast). Similarly, in Costa Rica average wages of workers in the poorest regions (Chorotega and Brunca) were 13% lower than in the most developed region (i.e., San Jose). Over the period, this wage disadvantage continued to expand to other regions, more or less uniformly in Brazil and especially at the lower quantiles in Costa Rica.

In summary, although based on partial evidence, the picture that emerges from the above patterns of wage growth is not very auspicious for workers facing wage disadvantages not explained by human capital or job attributes. Adjusting for other factors, although wages of married workers grew faster, those of heads did not. Since the tendency towards a higher frequency of consensual unions may be more accentuated in poorer households, workers in the latter may have benefited less from overall wage growth. Moreover, the relative wage progress of disadvantaged groups such as black and mulatto workers has been slim, especially for those in the (conditionally) less privileged jobs. Wage differentials that cannot be explained by human capital and other worker and job attributes remain significant. Finally, workers in the less developed regions have benefited less from overall wage growth, especially those who already rank low in the conditional wage distribution.

# 6. **Conclusions and Policy Implications**

Our findings provide rich empirical evidence to address the three main questions we aimed to examine. We find that the well known regional trends of rising unemployment but better employment quality, as measured by rising real wages, hide patterns of intra-male economic marginalization with varying country intensity, some of which operate rather subtly and thus require finer methodological scrutiny. These are summarized and discussed below.

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