Migration of labor: differential of income between rural and urban trade union workers in Brazil

PurposeThe objective of this work was to analyze the income differential of the rural–urban worker in relation to the rural–rural worker and in relation to the urban–urban worker in the Brazilian labor market. Two databases were used, the 2005 and 2015 PNADs (Pesquisa Nacional Por Amostra de Domicílios).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is the decomposition approach proposed by Firpo et al. (2007, 2009). This method adopts estimates of unconditional quantile regressions, based on the concepts of influence function and recentered influence function (RIF).FindingsAmong the main results, income differentials were shown to benefit the urban–urban worker when compared to the rural–urban worker, and income differences to the benefit of the rural–urban workers, when these were compared to the rural–rural workers. The educational variable was relevant in explaining the income disparity and expressing increasing effects in the higher quantiles.Originality/valueThe methodology used in this work is considered recent in the literature as it is based on the RIF regression (Firpo et al., 2007, 2009). The main advantage of this method is the possibility of assigning a “composition effect” and a “wage structure effect” for each variable that determines the level of income at different points of the income distribution.

What drives regional differences in Body Mass Index? Evidence from Spain

Background: This paper contributes to the debate on the North-South health divide by disentangling the conditioning factors responsible for regional differences in BMI. Specifically, this paper analyses differences in BMI between northern and southern Spanish regions, a country characterized by important geographical disparities in BMI and other health outcomes, as well as by the decentralized structure of its National Health System (NHS). Method: First, we decompose the average North-South BMI gap into the contribution of explained and unexplained factors using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. Second, we perform a distributional analysis by applying the Recentered Influence Function (RIF) Regression and the corresponding decomposition, to analyse BMI differentials along its unconditional distribution. Results and Conclusions: Our findings indicate that North to South differences in BMI are significant only for women and a large share (74%) of this gap is explained by differences in endowments (basically years of schooling) to the detriment of women living in the South. Moreover, the explained (unexplained) portion of the gap steadily increases (decreases) along the BMI distribution, suggesting that what really matters to deal with the obesity epidemic among overweight women is focusing attention on regional disparities in observed endowments, human capital being the main driver.

Recentered influence functions (RIFs) in Stata: RIF regression and RIF decomposition

Recentered influence functions (RIFs) are statistical tools popularized by Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux (2009 , Econometrica 77: 953–973) for analyzing unconditional partial effects on quantiles in a regression analysis framework (unconditional quantile regressions). The flexibility and simplicity of these tools have opened the possibility to extend the analysis to other distributional statistics using linear regressions or decomposition approaches. In this article, I introduce one function and two commands to facilitate the use of RIFs in the analysis of outcome distributions: rifvar() is an egen extension used to create RIFs for a large set of distributional statistics, rifhdreg facilitates the estimation of RIF regressions enabling the use of high-dimensional fixed effects, and oaxaca_rif implements Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition analysis (RIF decompositions).

Wage differentials associated with race between 2002 and 2014 in Brazil: evidence from a quantile decomposition

ABSTRACT Throughout the 2000s Brazil went through a great phase of economic development. The present study seeks to investigate whether this movement was accompanied by a reduction in inequality in the labor market, measured here by the wage gap between whites and non-whites. To do so, three cohorts of time (2002-2004, 2007-2009 and 2012-2014) were analyzed using the microdata of the National Household Sampling Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Amostragem Domiciliar - Pnad). The applied method is the counterfactual Oaxaca-Blinder along with the Recentered Influence Function Regression (RIF-Regression) so that the main determinants of wage inequalities can be detailed throughout the salary distribution. Our results showed that wage gap (totals, due to observed factors and discrimination) are higher in the higher quantiles of the distribution, that is, in professions or activities with higher wages. The results also point that the wage gap between the groups decreased during the analyzed period, which was mainly due to observable characteristics, especially educational levels. However, discrimination decreased only between the first and second triennium and in low magnitude. Apart from that, the main determinants of racial wage gap are returns related to education, experience and professions considered unregulated (self-employment and informal workers).

Analytical Study of Happiness Inequality in Egypt

Based on World value survey (3 waves: 2001, 2008 & 2012) the happiness inequality in Egypt has been enlarged. This paper illustrates the concept of happiness inequality and analysis the status of happiness inequality in Egypt. Also the paper aim to determine the main factors affecting happiness inequality in Egypt. This paper used RIF regression (Recentered influence function) to investigate the impacts of several factors like: age, educational level, employment status, gender, martial status and health status on happiness inequality in Egypt. We found that increase the population share of middle age people and increase unemployment rate can enlarge Egypt’s happiness inequality. While an increase in educational level, improvement in health and having good job has a reducing impact on happiness inequality.

Decomposition of Differences between Household Income Distributions in Poland in Years 2002 and 2012

In this study we present the decomposition of income inequalities between household income distributions in Poland in 2002 and 2012. The difference between two distributions may be decomposed using the counterfactual distribution, which can be constructed in various ways. Techniques such as the residual imputation approach and RIF‑regression method (recentered influence function) were considered. The application of these methods made it possible to show the aggregate detailed decompositions in different quantile points along the income distribution. The influence of several person’s characteristics on the differences in income distributions was examined. By decomposing the inequalities into the explained and unexplained components it was possible to receive additional information about their causes.

The Effects of Minimum Wage Throughout the Wage Distribution in Indonesia

The global financial crisis in 2007 followed by Indonesia’s largest labor demonstration in 2013 encouraged turmoils on Indonesia labor market. This paper examines the effect of the minimum wage on wage distribution in 2007 and 2014 and how the minimum wage increases in 2014 affected the distribution of wage differences between 2007 and 2014. This study employs recentered influence function (RIF) regression method to estimate the wage function by using unconditional quantile regression. Furthermore, to measure the effect of the minimum wage increase in 2014 on the distribution of wage differences, it uses the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition method. Using balanced panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), it found that the minimum wage mitigates wage disparity in 2007 and 2014. The minimum wage policy in 2014 leads to an increase in the wage difference between 2007 and 2014, with the largest wage difference being in the middle distribution.DOI: 10.15408/sjie.v7i2.6125

DIFFERENCES IN INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN POLAND – AN ANALYSIS USING DECOMPOSITION TECHNIQUES

In the paper, we compare income distributions in Poland, taking into account gender differences. The gender pay gap can only be partially explained by differences in men’s and women’s characteristics. The unexplained part of the gap is usually attributed to the wage discrimination. The objective of the study is to extend the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition procedure to different quantile points along the income distribution. We utilize such decomposition methods as the residual imputation approach, the reweighting approach and the RIF-regression method to describe differences between the incomes of men and women along the two distributions. We evaluate the strength of the influence of personal characteristics onto the various parts of the income distributions. The analysis is based on data from the EU-SILC data for Poland in 2014.