The Gini coefficient of labor earnings in Brazil fell by nearly a fifth between 1995 and 2012, from 0.50 to 0.41. The decline in other measures of earnings inequality was even larger, with the 90-10 percentile ratio falling by almost 40 percent. Applying micro-econometric decomposition techniques, this study parses out the proximate determinants of this substantial reduction in earnings inequality. Although a falling education premium did play a role, in line with received wisdom, this study finds that a reduction in the returns to labor market experience was a much more important factor driving lower wage disparities. It accounted for 53 percent of the observed decline in the Gini index during the period. Reductions in horizontal inequalities – the gender, race, regional and urban-rural wage gaps, conditional on human capital and institutional variables – also contributed. Two main factors operated against the decline: a greater disparity in wage premia to different sectors of economic activity, and the “paradox of progress”: the mechanical inequality-increasing effect of a more educated labor force when returns to education are convex.

中文翻译：

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巴西劳动力市场经验和收入不平等下降：1995-2012

1995 年至 2012 年间，巴西的劳动收入基尼系数下降了近五分之一，从 0.50 降至 0.41。其他收入不平等指标的下降幅度更大，90-10% 的比率下降了近 40%。应用微观计量经济学分解技术，本研究分析了收入不平等大幅减少的直接决定因素。尽管教育溢价下降确实起到了作用，但与公认的观点一致，本研究发现，劳动力市场经验回报的减少是推动工资差距缩小的一个更为重要的因素。在此期间，它占观察到的基尼指数下降的 53%。减少横向不平等——性别、种族、地区和城乡工资差距，以人力资本和制度变量为条件——也有贡献。两个主要因素对下降起作用：不同经济活动部门的工资溢价差距更大，以及“进步悖论”：受教育程度更高的劳动力在教育回报为凸时会产生机械不平等的增加效应。