Research

WORKING PAPERS IN PROGRESS

•  "International Trade and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Brazil", with Vinicios Sant'Anna. (Job Market Paper).[Paper] 

Abstract: In this paper, we study the consequences of international trade integration on wage inequality. We examine the direct and indirect impact of the "two-sided" China shock on Brazilian wage inequality. Using a detailed employer-employee database, our empirical evidence suggests that export and import exposure creates winners and losers between and within sectors. We also find that indirect exposure to trade shocks through industry production networks has important effects on wages. To understand the mechanisms behind this result, we extend the model proposed by Helpman et al. (2017) sector heterogeneity and selection into imports. Our model provides a reasonable approximation of first and second-order statistics observed in the economy. We then propose different counterfactual scenarios where we isolate the impact of export and import exposure. Moreover, we simulate the model under different tariff reduction regimes. We show that the China shock is responsible for a fall of 1 percent in the overall wage variance, driven by losses in the higher-paying manufacturing sector. Average wages remain relatively unchanged. In the scenario where tariffs were 20 percent lower, wages across the economy would have increased substantially (overall, an increase of almost 5 percent), with a higher share of workers in high-paying sectors and in exporter/importer firms. This gain would be at the expense of an increase in the wage variance by around 4 percent. Although highlighting the presence of winners and losers from the China shock, our findings suggest a mild impact on the between-firm inequality compared to other papers in the literature. However, the gains could be substantially larger under scenarios with lower tariffs.

• "Bilateral Trade Integration, Skill Remoteness and Labor Market Adjustment". 

Abstract: In this paper, I study whether remote workers are more/less affected by import/export exposure shocks. Inspired by Macaluso (2017) and Artuc et al. (2010), I propose a measure of skill remoteness that considers the distance in terms of skills/abilities between worker's occupation and other occupations within the same region. This measure indicates difficulty/easiness for workers to respond to shocks in labor demand. Using the identification strategy proposed by Costa et al. (2016), I estimate local labor demand exposure to exports and imports caused by Chinese growth in the international market after 2001. The results suggest that workers exposed to import competition shocks reduce earnings and employment over 2001-2008. In contrast, those who faced greater export shocks increased earnings and employment in the same period. Remoteness serves as an amplifier for those shocks, further increasing (decreasing) earnings and employment due to export (import) exposure, although results are not robust. Following the literature, I find that workers use the Commerce/Services sector to protect themselves against negative shocks. However, remote workers are not less able to smooth shocks by moving across sectors-occupation. In sum, I find that remoteness is another source of attrition for workers. This result provides evidence on the impact of bilateral trade integration and provides insights into compensation policies between winners and losers.

• "National Champions, Wage Inequality, and the Worker-Firm Mismatch"

Abstract: In 2007, the Brazilian federal government started an active policy of expansion of subsidized credit. In this study, I investigate the effects of those loans on employment and wages. I use a methodology based on Abowd, Kramarz, and Margolis (1999) to decompose the wage's variance and identify worker's and firm's effects. With these estimates, I use an instrumental variable approach to evaluate how much the subsidized loans policy relates to the firm's effects and how it affects the relationship between workers and firms. My results suggest a small increase in firm effects inequality during the high expansion of credit. Moreover, after the policy implementation, I identify a mismatch between more productive workers with firms that received loans.

•  "The Impact of ProUni on Labor Market Outcomes", with Daniel Tabak.

•  "The Spoils of Victory Revisited: Long Run Lobbying".

PAPERS PRESENTED IN CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

• "Bilateral Trade Integration, Skill Remoteness and Labor Market Adjustment". Midwest Economics

Association, 2021. Virtual.

• "Bilateral Trade Integration, Skill Remoteness and Labor Market Adjustment". Western Economic

Association International, 2021. Virtual.

• "The China rise and effects on Brazilian local labor market". Western Economic Association International,

2019. San Francisco, EUA.

• "Strategy and lobby: an analysis of the interaction of economic groups and campaign contributions

using spatial econometrics". In: 12th Congress of the Brazilian Regional Science Association, 2014,

Belo Horizonte, Brazil. (with Eduardo Amaral Haddad and Andre Luis Squarize Chagas).

• "Competing for political benefits". 2013. REAL Seminars. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• "Livestock intensification and land use: the response of cattle breeder to price variations on land

utilization". In: 9th World Congress of Regional Science Association International, 2012, Timisoara.

(with Angelo Costa Gurgel and Andre Luis Squarize Chagas).

• "Livestock intensification and land use: the response of cattle breeder to price variations on land

utilization". In: XL Encontro Nacional de Economia - Anpec, 2012, Porto de Galinhas. (with Angelo

Costa Gurgel and Andre Luis Squarize Chagas).