Determinantes individuais e locais da ocupação informal entre as regiões metropolitanas do Brasil

Abstract

In Brazil, the informal labor market is characterized by the contingent of workers who do not have a formal employment contract, that is, who do not have labor relations governed by the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) or statutory regimes. The relevance of understanding informal employment is justified by the very duality of this category, often related to the precariousness and low quality of labor relations, but which emerges in periods of crisis as a viable alternative to unemployment. Therefore, it becomes necessary to investigate which characteristics can explain the insertion of economically active individuals into informal employment. Based on these considerations, this article aims to analyze the individual and local attributes that determine the probability of a worker being employed in an informal occupation, both within metropolitan regions (Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre) and across the entire national territory. The Logit econometric model was adopted to estimate the results, using microdata from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD Contínua) for the fourth quarter of 2012, 2015, and 2017. In addition, data from the 2010 Demographic Census (IBGE) were used to obtain population size, as well as the total area of ​​metropolitan regions, and finally, the Annual Social Information Report (RAIS) was used to obtain data on the total number of formal jobs. The results for Brazil between 2012, 2015, and 2017 show that women are more likely to enter the informal labor market, as are older people. On the other hand, heads of households, more experienced workers, Black people, and people with higher levels of education are less likely to enter the informal sector. The results for Brazil also show that the sectors most affected by informality are agriculture and construction, and that there are fewer opportunities in the informal market in metropolitan regions and urban areas. Regarding the results for metropolitan regions, there is a difference in terms of heads of household and the occupational density of formal employment, both positively affecting the chances of finding work in the informal sector.