Abstract

FERNANDEZ-FRANCO, Sebastián; GRANA, Juan M.; LASTRA, Facundo  and  WEKSLER, Guido. Employment Quality and Labour Market Structure in Latin America from a Comparative Perspective. Ens. Econ. [online]. 2022, vol.32, n.61, pp.124-151.  Epub Mar 22, 2023. ISSN 0121-117X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/ede.v32n61.100343.

Latin American contributions to labour market theories highlight the fact that the region is characterized by the existence of significant productive heterogeneity, which is expressed in the coexistence of jobs of varying income and quality. Within this framework, this article has two objectives. First, to analyse the current situation of Latin American labour markets in a comparative manner. To this end, we study the quality of employment and income of salaried and non-salaried workers in 13 Latin American countries, working with nine occupational profiles constructed according to the qualification of the job and the size of the establishment. Secondly, and considering that these theoretical arguments require a comparison with countries that do not share the same structural features, evaluate the purchasing power of the wages of the nine profiles in relation to the United States, as a developed country. Results confirm that the contributions of the literature are still valid today, and that wage levels are markedly below those of the United States even for good quality profiles. It is concluded that the productive backwardness that characterizes the region translates into a general deterioration of labour conditions, which is expressed more strongly in small establishments.

JEL: J21; J24; J31; J81.

Keywords : Latin-America; job quality; labour-market; real wage; United States; precarity.

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