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Abstract:
Wage dispersion had increased significantly in developing countries, despite the openness to trade of these economies. Research on this issue, using approaches valid under the assumption of conventional demand-supply competitive framework, conclude that this observed increase in wage inequality is a consequence of an increase in skills premium. In this paper we show that this conclusion could be bias if government intervention is not taken into account. Here we find that in Uruguay most of the increase in wage dispersion could be explain by a significant increase in public wages and a decrease of minimum wage. In addition, we observe that the impact of these intervetions are different depending on the degree of concentration of population and economic activity.

wage dispersion, returns to schooling, quantile regression

Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution, during the nineties, of the wage differential between men and women, and in particular the labor market discrimination. We try to analyze if in a frame of increasing openness to international trade, decreasing inflation, wage negotiation decentralization and increasing wage inequality, the labor market discrimination against women has experimented any change. We estimate the total wage differential and decompose it in three components: I) men advantage or overpayment due to the existence of discrimination (favoritism), ii) women disadvantage (pure discrimination) and iii) differences due to different human capital levels and labor insertion. It is observed that the wage gap between men and women diminished. Although the three factors go in the same way to improve women condition in the labor market, it is the differences due to different human capital levels and labor insertion the main factor that contributed to narrow the wage gap during the period of study (1991-1997). The decomposition of the wage gap shows that the men start the period with an advantage in terms of human capital and labor insertion that soon disappears and stars to be favorable for women, being the main factor that explains the diminishing in the wage gap. Not only the advantage of men but also the disadvantage of women had very moderate changes thus in a frame of wage gap diminishing, at the end of the period, they remained as the main explanation of the wage gap.

labor, gender, discrimination, women

Abstract:
In the last two decades, the interest in learning about the poverty levels of the different countries has reflected growing concern. This has been partly due to the economic recession and the high rates of unemployment that the western economies have gone through during that period, and partly, because the 80s has proved to be a difficult decade for many developing countries, especially for Latin America where there has been an increase in both the total number of poor people and its percentage in relation to total population. In the context of Latin America, the case of Uruguay presents some peculiarities of its own. It is a small country (of over three million people) which presents acceptable levels of infrastructure, a public sanitary and educational system and which has been historically known for having some of the best levels of social indicators in the continent (both for per capita income and for poverty and inequality). In the present paper we aim to apply the methodology developed by Jenkins and Lambert (1997) to the study of poverty evolution in urban Uruguay between 1991 and 1997. To do so we shall make use of the information supplied by Continuous Household Surveys conducted by the Statistics National Institute in Uruguay.

poverty, income distribution

Abstract:
This paper analyzes the perception that the Uruguayans have of the level of corruption in the country. We understand for corruption the illegal profit of the public officials from their position in the public office. In Uruguay the citizenship perceives that the level of the public officials' corruption is high. The more intense is the belief that the corruption is extended, there is a higher disposition of the citizens interviewed to consider that it is necessary to give a bribe to solve a problem with the officials.

The citizen's personal experience with regard to corrupt acts is the fact that affects in a significant and important way the perception of the levels of corruption in the society.

Corruption, perception, bribe

Abstract:
This paper is concerned with distributive aspects of crucial economic and institutional reforms experienced by earners of several income sources in Uruguay after the late eighties. These reforms involved both the labor market and the pensions system, and we provide empirical evidence about the different way they affected the distribution of income. The distribution of income across all earners at the end of the eighties exhibited two well-distinguished poles, each associated with one income source. This bimodality diminished with time during the nineties due to the general improvement in retirement pensions, and polarization by income sources. In the same period we find in the case of labor earnings a net transfer of population mass from the middle of the distribution to both extremes, which results in increasing polarization within this income source.

Income distribution, wages, polarization

Abstract:
During the last decade changes have taken place in the structure of the expenditure of the Uruguayan households. In particular, the expenditure in health care raised and diversified. Using data from income and expenditure survey (Encuesta de Gastos e Ingresos 1994-95, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica), we estimated Engel curves for different goods and services related to health care. We found that health care is necessary (income elasticity positive and smaller than one) except for medicament and dental care (it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that they are luxury goods). When considering all the expenditure in health care, it is proven that it is a necessary good but the income elasticity is near to one. Nevertheless, is a necessary good for the richest, but is not possible to reject that it is a luxury good for the poorest.

During the last decade changes have taken place in the structure of the expenditure of the Uruguayan households. In particular, the expenditure in health care raised and diversified. Using data from income and expenditure survey (Encuesta de Gastos e Ingresos 1994-95, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica), we estimated Engel curves for different goods and services related to health care. We found that health care is necessary (income elasticity positive and smaller than one) except for medicament and dental care (it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that they are luxury goods). When considering all the expenditure in health care, it is proven that it is a necessary good but the income elasticity is near to one. Nevertheless, is a necessary good for the richest, but is not possible to reject that it is a luxury good for the poorest.

Engel, income elasticity, health care

Abstract:
The analysis of the evolution of wage polarization in Uruguay during the last twelve years shows that the distribution of wages has become progressively more unequal and, most of all, more polarized. Increased reward to skill and experience, together with increased wage differentials by economic sector, are in the root of this process.

salary, polarization, distribution of wages

Abstract:
In this paper we are concerned with the estimation of income elasticities of environmental amenities. The novelty is the application of econometric methods that take into account the problem of measurement errors when estimating these elasticities, which are common in microeconomic data and are not usually considered in the applied literature related with this issue. Our aim is to discuss whether the measurement error has significant effects on the elasticities. Data from the Expenditure Budget Survey of Uruguay (1996) are used.

environmental goods, demand

Abstract:
Although there were external shocks and changes in macroeconomic and income policies, the poverty indexes did not register important variations in Uruguay (1980-1990). But the fluctuations in average income suggest that the levels of absolute poverty could have been affected. Anyway, the decomposition of the indexes using a relative poverty line permits to measure the short-term differences of impacts among occupations during the decade.

Thus, in spite of the fact that the regional environment affects all the economy, the informal sector appears to be particularly sensitive to its changes but in the opposite direction. When relative prices in the region induce a high demand for Uruguayan goods, smuggling decreases and so self-employment without establishment activity. As formal sector has the most important weight in national income, the positive external shocks allowed a decline of global poverty indexes.

But the adjustment to the deterioration of regional environment in 1987-88 affected public and private employees situation. Meanwhile changes for public employees depended on the timing of fiscal adjustments, swings on private sector agents depended on their bargaining strengths and the wage policy.

With high poverty indexes, the contribution to poverty of self-employed workers without establishment grew up during the decade, as a consequence of a structural trend of both increasing participation and poverty of informal sector. On the other hand, other structural changes characterize those whose main source of income comes from the public sector. Given the financial problems of the social security system and the link between public wages and pensions adjustments, another expected trend for the future is an increase of poverty of public employees.

The decomposition of poverty indexes also permits a study of the structural links between head of household characteristics and poverty. The relation between education and poverty status shows that low schooling of the household head is associated with low household income. A trend of increasing schooling in population is changing the structure of household head education. A more homogenous labor force suggests that the contribution of higher educated to poverty could increase in the future. On the other hand, the different quality between private and public education could be useful to explain poverty status in the future: the restrain of investment in public education will affect its quality and therefore the education of the poorest, who are outside the private system.

poverty, wages

Abstract:
The purpose of this paper will be to study the evolution of inequality and poverty in Uruguay between 1989 and 1997. We found that from 1991 there is an increase wage inequality in Uruguay and poverty changed little, decreased until 1993 and then increased. Near a half of poor people in Uruguay are children and old people contribute very little to poverty.

Income distribution, poverty

Abstract:
Using data from de Survey of Households Expenditures (1982-1983 and 1994-1995) of the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica we estimates Engel Curves for a series of health expenditure. It is possible to affirm for 1994-1995 that the total expenditure in health care are a luxury good for people from Montevideo. Analyzing some specific components the same characteristic is observed for medications, not being able to reject the hypothesis that the expenditures on IAMC and mobile emergencies are necessary goods.

health care, luxury

Abstract:
In this document we made a descriptive analysis of the evolution of the female participation in comparison to the masculine one in the Uruguayan labor market between 1986 and 2000. The descriptive analysis of the tendencies of the participation made according to the variables related to the familiar cycle for men and women, suggests us that in Uruguay there has been a process of similarity of the participation behavior of men and women. According to the information observed, the familiar life cycle loses importance in the determination of the incorporation of the women to the labor market, specially within the most educated.

woman labor participation, gender

Abstract:
In this paper we are concerned with the estimation of income elasticities of environmental amenities. The novelty is the application of econometric methods that take into account the problem of measurement errors when estimating these elasticities, which is common in microeconomic data and is not usually considered in the applied literature related to this issue. Our aim is to discuss whether measurement errors have significant effects on income elasticities. Data from the Expenditure Budget Survey of Uruguay (1996) are used.

income elasticity, measurement errors

Abstract:
This paper analyzes use of the time of the couples into the household. The principals conclusions are that the sex of the one interviewed is the variable that conditions the quantity of hours that she/he dedicates to the tasks into the household.

The women dedicate on the average 30 weekly hours to these tasks, while the men dedicate approximately the half approximately in the case in that the couple's members work outside of the home.

Men dedication to those tasks household diminishes when increasing the age.

When the opportunity cost of the domestic working hours of the women increases, they diminish its dedication to the household. In the case of the men this variable is not significant to explain the amount of domestic tasks.

The presence of children smaller than 4 years old in the household increases the time that the men dedicate to the domestic tasks.

time, household

Abstract:
The present paper is a first attempt to measure and explain, from an economic perspective, the religious behavior of Uruguayans (women in this stage), and compare the results with those obtained for some Latin American and developed countries. In this first stage, the efforts were concentrated in the interpretation of the religious behavior from an microeconomic perspective, considering the individual decision about church attendance and its frequency. With this aim, we analyze the relation between the religious degree of the individuals (measured through a variable created combining two questions of the used surveys: Are you religious? How often do you go to the temple?) and diverse personal characteristics such as age, education, marital status, among others (solely for women from 25 to 54 years old in the case of Uruguay). We confirmed that Uruguayans are less religious than the people of the other countries considered (Chile, Spain, Mexico and the United States), that the religious activity is more intense for women and older people, and that the education level have an ambiguous effect on the intensity of the religious activity. In addition, in the case of Uruguay, greater levels of deprivation imply greater levels of religious activity.

church attendance, religion, religious activity, religion and socioeconomic variables

Abstract:
This paper analyzes the impact that the women participation in the labor market had on income distribution on the market Uruguayan labor market between 1986 and 1997. The study is carried out for Montevideo and for the Rest of the Urban Country. The results, using the Household Surveys (ECH) from the National Institute of Statistic, indicate that all income sources contribute in positive form to the total inequality. But they are different results for Montevideo and Interior.

women, labor, inequality

Abstract:
This work constitutes a first exploration on the information about people's satisfaction levels in Uruguay. In particular, it intends to analyse the relationship between the level of satisfaction with life and other variables in a sample of women from 25 to 54 years old in Greater Montevideo. Many of the results obtained, such as the positive relationship between educational level and the variable analysed, are consistent with those found in other countries.

Women, happiness

Abstract:
In this paper we analyze the correlation between measures of success (number of recordings, artistic income) over a sample of performing musicians. We obtain that women tend to record more than men but earn less artistic income; measures of success are correlated positively with broad measures of general and specific human capital; outcomes also display significant variation explained by artistic genre and occupation.

Art, success

Abstract:
This paper analyzes and compares socioeconomic inequalities in the use of healthcare services by the elderly in four South-American cities: Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay) and San Pablo (Brazil). We use data from SABE, a survey on Health, Well-being and Aging administered in several Latin American cities in 2000. After having accounted for socioeconomic inequalities in healthcare needs, we find socioeconomic inequities favoring the rich in the use of preventive services (mammograms, pap tests, breast examinations, and prostate exams) in all of the studied cities. We also find inequities in the likelihood of having a medical visit in Santiago and Montevideo, and in some measures of quality of access in Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. Santiago depicts the highest inequities in medical visits and Uruguay the worse indicators in mammograms and pap scans tests. For all cities, inequities in preventive services at least double inequities in other services. We do not find evidence of a trade-off between levels of access and equity in access to healthcare services. The decomposition of healthcare inequalities suggests that inequities within each health system (public or private) are more important than between systems.

Abstract:
Basing on the survey on Health, Well-being and Aging (SABE-PAHO/WHO, 2001) the determinants of health status for the cohort of 60 years old and over in Montevideo are estimated. Sixty seven percent of older adults perceived their health status as good. Estimates for the different indicators of health used (self-assessment, chronic diseases and functional limitations) allow to state that the conditions during the first years of life, either nutritional, sanitary or economic, are determinants of health status in the final stages of life. The facts above referred become extremely important when allocating resources, which are scarce by definition, to improve the population health status. As shown by the literature, the expansion of education as well as the improvement of nutritional status during the early stages of life have proved to be more effective in increasing life span than clinical medicine. In a country where the levels of poverty mainly affect children - at present these represent 60% of poor people - it could be possible to anticipate problems in health stock depreciation, thus in human capital depreciation, less productivity and an increased demand for health care as current cohorts grow old.

health, elder, status

Abstract:
In this study we use data on subjective well being and migration in Cuenca, one of the Ecuador's largest cities. We examine the impact of migration on the happiness of the family left behind. We use the propensity score matching estimator to take into account the endogeneity of migration. Our results indicate that migration reduces the happiness of those left behind. We also find that the monetary inflows (remittances) that accompany migration do not increase happiness levels among recipients. These results suggest that the family left behind cannot be compensated, for the increase in unhappiness that it sustains on account of the emigration of loved ones, with remittances from abroad.

Happiness, migration, remittances

Abstract:
There is not general consensus about if women are more or less generous than men. Although the number of papers supporting more generous females is a bit larger than the opposed it is not possible to establish any definitive and systematic gender bias. This paper provides new evidence on this topic using a unique experimental dataset. We used data from a field experiment conducted under identical conditions (and monetary payoffs) in 6 Latin American cities, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Lima, Montevideo and San José. Our dataset amounted to 3,107 experimental subjects who played the Trust Game. We will analyze the determinants of behavior of second movers, that is, what determines reciprocal generosity. In sharp contrast to previous papers we found that males are more generous than females. In the light of this result, we carried out a systematic analysis of individual features (income, education, age, etc.) for females and males separately. We found differential motivations for women and men. Third, we see that (individual) education enhances pro-social behavior. Lastly, we see that subjects’ expectations are crucial.

Reciprocal altruism, gender, education

Abstract:
Latin America is well known as the most inequitable region. As it is recognized, inequality and corruption perception weaken the way that political institutions works and the democratic system. Focusing on Latin American and Caribbean countries, we analyze what are the elements that shape tax morale. In particular, we analyze how the context influences on ethic decisions such as the predisposition to pay taxes. Our data source is the survey carried out in 2005 by Latinobarometro. In particular, our objective is to analyze how country performance is determining tax morale. To do so, we estimated four probit models including Gini index, Transparency International Corruption Perception Index and Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDPpc). As expected we found that some socio-demographic variables play a relevant role. Interestingly, we also found that, in this attitude, LAC countries do not register a gender bias. However, those are not our main contributions to the literature on the field. The most important results are linked with: 1) the level matters, GDPpc increases the probability that people have tax morale, 2) moreover, income distribution also influence on tax morale but in opposite direction and 3) corruption perception also reduces tax morale. Those results show that the quality of institutions matters and therefore, the way that democracy works play a relevant role.

tax morale, corruption, inequality, democracy, microeconomic behavior

Abstract:
This paper analyzes the perception Uruguayans have of the level of corruption in their country using the Citizens’ Survey. We understand for corruption the illegal profit of public officials from their position in public office. In Uruguay the citizenship perceives that the level of corruption among public officials is high. The greater the belief that corruption is extensive, the greater is the willingness of the citizens surveyed to consider it necessary to give a bribe to solve a problem with officials. The personal experience of a citizen with regard to acts of corruption is the factor that most affects in a significant and important way the perception of the levels of corruption in the society.

perception, corruption, bribe

Abstract:
This paper explores the effect of religious observance and affiliation to the dominant religion (Catholicism) on trust in institutions, towards others and market attitudes. The analysis is performed using a Latin American database of twenty thousand respondents from 2004 by means of ordered probit models. The most interesting results are: i) Trust toward others is positively correlated with religious observance and with Catholic affiliation. ii) There is a positive correlation between trust in the government, in the police, in the armed forces, in the judiciary and in the banking system and religious practice in general. Identical positive results are obtained for Catholic affiliation. iii) Correlations with attitudes toward the market, in general, are heterogeneous but never negative. In sum, individual's level of religiosity crucially affects trust in institutions and toward peers. We also found that Catholicism encourages both trust in institutions and towards others. Thus, we found a positive effect of "religiosity" on social capital. In fact, we never found any negative (and significant) effect on the variables considered.

trust in institutions, economic behavior, religious practise

Abstract:
This paper is concerned with changes in the distribution of income sources in Uruguay after the late eighties. An apparent stability in the distribution of total incomes is hiding deep transformations affecting the generation of that income. The distribution across all income earners at the end of the eighties exhibited two well-distinguished poles, each associated with one of the main income sources: pension benefits and wages. This bimodality diminished during the nineties due to the reduction in polarization by income sources. In the same period we find that in the case of labor earnings there was a net transfer of population mass from the middle of the distribution to both extremes, which results in an increasing polarization within this income source. This phenomenon resembles the Anglo-Saxon experience of the shrinking middle class.

income sources, inequality, labor market, pension benefits, polarization