Rural employment trends in Brazil: an analysis using dynamic panel models Evânio Mascarenhas Paulo, Francisco José Silva Tabosa, Ahmad Saeed Khan and Leonardo Andrade Rocha
Abstract This article considers certain dimensions of the quality of employment in Brazil, particularly in rural zones. It starts from the perception of changes in rural production relations and the repercussions these have on employment practices. A panel data methodology is applied to capture the determinants of job quality, and a quality of employment index is proposed. Rural employment is more precarious than its urban counterpart, although the differences have been diminishing over time. In the agriculture sector, the economic growth of the 2000 decade merely resulted in the existing conditions of employment being extended to new contracts, without any change in average quality. Rising labour income and education levels are important not only for enhancing the quality of employment but also as a strategy for overcoming problems such as heterogeneity between groups.
Keywords Rural employment, labour market, rural areas, labour relations, working conditions, measurement, evaluation, employment statistics, econometric models, Brazil JEL classification C23, J43, R11 Authors Evânio Mascarenhas Paulo is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Universidade Regional do Cariri, Brazil. Email: evanio.paulo@urca.br. Francisco José Silva Tabosa is a Professor on the Graduate Programme in Rural Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. Email: franzetabosa@ufc.br. Ahmad Saeed Khan is a Professor on the Graduate Programme in Rural Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. Email: saeed@ufc.br. Leonardo Andrade Rocha is a Professor in the Department of Human Sciences at Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (Brazil). Email: leonardoandrocha@ yahoo.com.br.
