Labour market flexibility: a comparative analysis between socioeconomic segments in Brazil (2002-2009)

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the degree of wage flexibility in the Brazilian labor market using data from the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD) for the period 2002 to 2009. The method used is the econometric model known as the Wage Curve, developed by Blanchflower and Oswald (1994a) and refined by Card (1995). For an indicator of flexibility disaggregated, it tests the significance of the wage curve for different segments of the labor market. The results show that this method is able to provide aggregated and disaggregated indicators of wage flexibility for different segments in the Brazilian labor market.