Research

Joint with Sergio Firpo.

Between 1995 and 2015, Brazil experienced a significant decline in wage inequality, which was an impressive achievement in a world characterized mostly by rising inequality. The objective of this paper is to review the literature that explains this observed pattern. We present some of the stylized facts regarding inequality during this period, focusing on findings from decomposition methodologies such as RIF regressions and worker- and firm-effects models. We then survey studies that investigate natural experiments and structural models to assess mechanisms related to labor supply and demand, as well as institutional factors such as labor formality and the minimum wage. As a synthesis, we argue that a favorable economic environment, combined with increases in the minimum wage, higher levels of formalization, and an increased supply of skilled workers, contributed to a compression in wages. However, certain aspects of the decline in wage inequality still lack full explanation, such as the reduction in the experience premium and payment heterogeneity between firms, the role of technological changes, and the impacts of the minimum wage in the informal sector.

World Bank's Policy Research Working Paper

Joint with Naercio Menezes-Filho, Ana M. B. Menezes, Helen Gonçalvez, and Fernando C. Wehrmeister

Using data that follows the same cohort from birth up to age 18, we document racial patters of human capital formation in Brazil across the life-cycle. We analyze racial differences in birth weight, years of schooling and socioemotional skills.

Joint with Raquel Tebaldi

Brazilian electoral rules that impose two-round elections in municipalities with more than 200,000 voters. We explore this discontinuity to investigate how increased political competition affects the provision of childcare. We show that municipalities above the cutoff expanded their childcare systems faster.

Joint with Sergio Firpo, Michael França, Leila Pereira, and Rafael Tavares

This paper develops a new measure of descriptive representation in politics. It takes as inputs the minority share in the electorate and among representatives. Contrary to other disproportionality measures, our index attains the upper bound in more usual situations. Our empirical exercises uses Brazilian electoral data to measure racial imbalances in Brazilian states' legislative bodies and in the National Congress.  

SSRN Working Paper