The relationship between public and private higher education, income and employment in Brazilian municipalities

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the influence of the expansion of higher education on the labor market. For this, we examine how the increase of the graduates of the public and private sectors in Brazilian municipalities is related to variables of labor market and the average income. Using panel data of municipalities and different specifications, our results indicate that the growth of higher education is associated with the increase in average wage, occupation rate and per capita income. The variation of graduates in public institutions is strongly correlated with wages and average incomes, while graduates of private institutions showed comparatively higher correlations with the employment rate. In addition, the area of knowledge associated with the greatest wage and income variation is agriculture and veterinary.