Skill wage premium in Brazil: a task based approach

Abstract

The ability or competence to perform a given package of tasks is related to the educational level of the individuals, their occupation, and, consequently, their work performance. The objective of this paper is to estimate the determinants of wage differentials for Brazilian workers, with an emphasis on the effect of tasks performed in occupations on wages. Using data from the Annual Report of Social Information – RAIS, from 2003 to 2014, we measured the task intensity associated to worker occupations classified by the Brazilian Classification of Occupations (CBO), based on the approach of Spitz-Oener (2006), adapted by Guanziroli (2017) for Brazilian occupations. To measure the wage premium associated with the skills of workers in Brazil, we considered estimates with fixed effects of firms and firms – separately. Our main results show higher wage returns for the workers that are characterized by the performance of analytical and interactive analysis tasks, with emphasis on the positive evolution of the wage premium associated with these skills. For those who perform intensive work in routine tasks, the results indicate lower returns associated with skills.