Alexandre Gori Maia

How does social position influence self-reported health status? A comparative analysis between 1998 and 2003

The aim of this paper is to analyze how the social position of families affects self-reported health status, based on data from the 1998 and 2003 National Sample Household Survey of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (PNAD-IBGE). The method was based on descriptive statistics and logistic regression to capture the conditional relationship between health status, social position, and other control variables, such as age, sex, race/color, income, education, and place of residence. The results show that the same hierarchy of the occupational classes is reproduced in self-reported health status. There was an increase in inequalities in the period, with a reduction in the prevalence of healthy workers in the lower social strata and an increase in the upper strata. Although there were more healthy individuals in non-agricultural classes, the probability of good self-reported health was higher among agricultural workers, after the other control variables were added to the regression models. The results emphasize the need to analyze health inequalities from the perspective of social stratification.

Mudanças na composição das famílias e impactos sobre a redução da pobreza no Brasil

Changes in the family structure and impacts on the poverty reduction in Brazil - The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the association among observed changes in the family structure and the poverty condition in Brazil between 1981 and 2006. It will be highlighted: a) changes in the family structure; b) reduction of the average number of persons in the family; and c) higher participation of family members in the labor market, over all the women. The main hypothesis is that observed changes in the family structure has played an important role reducing the poverty indices in Brazil. To reach such purpose, this paper has been divided in four main parts: i) analysis of the economic context in the last 26 years and labor market trends; ii) changes observed in the family structure in this period; iii) association between family structure and poverty; iv) impacts of changes in the family structure over the poverty indices.

Impacto Econômico da Reserva Legal Sobre Diferentes Tipos de Unidades de Produção Agropecuária

This paper aims to analyze the economic impact of the legal reserve on the gross margin of different types of farms located in the watershed of the Oricanga River - in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. In order to reach such purpose, a typology of farmers was elaborated for the watershed. Two farmer types were selected for a detailed study: small farmers with low technology and citrus producers. The productive structure of both types was modeled through the recursive programming method, comprising the period between 2002/03 and 2008/09. The current farm system adopted by each type was confronted with two scenarios for legal reserve compensation: I) through the reallocation of productive areas within the farms and sustainable management of natural vegetation recovery in order to explore the production of timber; II) through the spontaneous growth of natural vegetation. Results highlight the importance of policies aimed to obtain a more equitable distribution of environmental conservation costs in the society, as well as the importance of locational adjustments of the legal reserves, in order to reach a better equilibrium between the preservation of biodiversity and the opportunity cost of land.

Estrutura sócio-ocupacional no Brasil

This paper analyzes the distribution of socio-occupational groups in the Brazilian labor market. In order to reach such purpose, this paper introduces some key elements of the process of formation of the modern social structure and analyzes the composition of such socio-occupational groups in relation to a series of socioeconomic characteristics. The hypothesis of these analyses is that the combination of occupational position and individual income plays an important role defining the complexity of the Brazilian social patterns. Overall, the proposed class structure allows to stress the high level inequality and the low socio-occupational patterns in Brazil, as well to discriminate consistently important socioeconomic groups in the population.

Economic growth, labor and productivity in Brazil and the United States: a comparative analysis

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relation between economic growth and labor market dynamics in Brazil between 1981 and 2009, making a comparison with the United States. Among the findings, one can mention that economic growth in Brazil has been related to a massive incorporation of labor force in labor intensive activities, whereas, in the United States, to a substantial improvement of labor productivity in high-technology activities. Despite the favorable economic context in the 2000s, huge inequalities between these countries have widened since the structure of the Brazilian labor market remained with few or no changes.

Saúde e mercado de trabalho no Brasil: diferenciais entre ocupados agrícolas e não agrícolas

Este trabalho analisa as diferencas no estado de saude entre e dentro dos grupos de ocupados agricolas e nao agricolas no Brasil, utilizando medidas de autoavaliacao do estado de saude captadas no suplemento da PNAD (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios) de 2008. As analises baseiam-se na composicao socioeconomica dos ocupados agricolas e nao agricolas e nas estimativas de equacoes simultâneas para captar as relacoes nao lineares entre saude, renda e jornada de trabalho. Um dos pressupostos do trabalho e que a baixa prevalencia de saudaveis entre os ocupados agricolas estaria associada, sobretudo, a composicao socioeconomica desse grupo, e nao a maior insalubridade a que os ocupados das atividades agricolas estariam submetidos em condicoes socioeconomicas semelhantes as dos nao agricolas. Analogamente, a desigualdade no estado de saude seria menor entre os ocupados agricolas devido aos habitos mais homogeneos, nao so no que se refere ao tipo de atividade, mas tambem em relacao a qualidade de vida e ao acesso a uma serie de itens de consumo, tipico das localidades menos desenvolvidas onde as atividades agricolas prevalecem......This paper analyzes differences of health conditions between and within agricultural and non-agricultural workers in Brazil. Self-reported health measures of the Health Supplement of Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios (PNAD), from 2008, are used. Results are based on the description of the socioeconomic characteristics of each group of employees and on estimates of a simultaneous equation to measure non-linear relations between health conditions, income and work hours. The main hypothesis is that the lower prevalence of workers with good health among agricultural workers is mainly due to socioeconomic characteristics of this group and not necessarily to higher insalubrious conditions that such workers would be submitted to in equivalent socioeconomic conditions than non-agricultural workers. Similarly, inequalities in health status within agricultural workers may be lower than non-agricultural workers due to more homogeneous kinds of activities, quality of life and consumption, usually found in less developed areas where agricultural workers prevail.

Estrutura de ocupações e distribuição de rendimentos: uma análise da experiência brasileira nos anos 2000

Em um contexto de profundas transformacoes na economia e no mercado de trabalho, o objetivo deste trabalho e analisar as relacoes entre a dinâmica da estrutura de ocupacoes e da distribuicao de rendimentos no Brasil nos anos 2000. Primeiramente, verifica-se em que medida a prevalencia de ocupacoes pouco qualificadas e de baixa remuneracao contribui para o elevado estagio de exclusao e desigualdade do pais. Verifica-se ainda como as mudancas na composicao e nos rendimentos dos principais grupos ocupacionais contribuiram para o crescimento da renda e a reducao da desigualdade no Brasil. Os resultados destacam a importância da estrutura ocupacional para compreensao das extremas diferencas socioeconomicas existentes no pais.

Tipologia municipal de classes sociocupacionais: uma nova dimensão para análise das desigualdades territoriais no Brasil

O objetivo principal deste trabalho e propor uma nova configuracao para o territorio brasileiro, fornecendo uma relevante dimensao para analise das desigualdades sociais brasileiras. A hipotese central e que a estrutura social, uma conjugacao entre insercao no mercado de trabalho (classe ocupacional) e faixa de renda per capita (estrato social) das familias brasileiras, e capaz de identificar padroes sociais que cumprem papel essencial nas analises sobre as condicoes de vida da populacao. Para cumprir tal objetivo, este trabalho foi estruturado em tres partes principais: i) descricao da metodologia de estratificacao social; ii) identificacao dos grupos de municipios relativamente homogeneos de desenvolvimento da estrutura social (perfis sociais) e analise espacial desta configuracao; iii) analise das desigualdades territoriais brasileiras utilizando o perfil social como variavel de controle.---------------------------------------------The main purpose of this work is to propose a new configuration of Brazilian territory, providing a relevant dimension to the analysis of Brazilian social inequalities. The central hypothesis is that the social structure, which consists of a combination between job market (socio-occupational class) and per capita income band (socioeconomic segment) of Brazilian families, is capable of identifying social patterns which has an essential role in analysis of the life conditions of population. To reach such purpose, this work is structured in tree mains divisions: i) a description of the social stratification methodology; ii) identifying groups of relative homogeneity of social structure development (socials profiles) and spatial analysis of this configuration; iii) analysis of Brazilian territory inequalities using the social profile as control variable.

Socioeconomic Attainments of Japanese Brazilians and Japanese Americans

This paper investigates the socioeconomic attainments of Japanese Brazilians and Japanese Americans. The findings indicate that Japanese Brazilians have higher levels of education and wages than white Brazilians, while Japanese Americans have higher levels of education and wages than white Americans. These results are inconsistent with a conventional “white supremacy” model that is popular in contemporary American sociology. We argue that that model needs to be reformulated to more systematically encompass class characteristics such as education given their salience in the twenty-first century. When smaller demographic minority groups are able to obtain high levels of a scarce class resource that is greatly valued in a competitive economy, racist relations against them in the labor market may be ameliorated. In this case, the cost of discriminating against the minority greatly exceeds the gain by not discriminating. With “white supremacy,” white employers and white employees are rewarded with a long-term racial dividend by engaging in short-term public goods behaviors (i.e., a discriminatory “united front”) that promote institutionalized racism. Because economic transactions with a very small minority group are so limited, whites as a whole do not commonly receive much long-term economic gain from discriminating against them. The maintenance of institutionalized racism against a very small minority group with high levels of class credentials therefore breaks down as individual whites are more economically rewarded by hiring and transacting with productive members of the minority group in the short-term rather than waiting for a long-term racial dividend that is likely to be trivial.

A Study of Stakeholder Views to Shape a Communication Strategy for GMO in Brazil.

This paper analyzes the view of stakeholders on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the implications of these views on communication strategies for agricultural biotechnology in Brazil. It identifies and describes common groups of attitudes toward GMOs using multivariate statistical analyses. The study then looks for patterns of association between the common attitude groups and the following variables: socioeconomic characteristics trust in institutions as information sources and familiarity with the Brazilian biosafety authority. The article contributes to the understanding of public awareness by highlighting how information sources, trust in institutions, and socioeconomic characteristics, such as age and occupational qualification, play important roles in defining patterns of attitudes toward GMOs. The paper also discusses the implications of this knowledge for the development of a communication strategy plan that would promote public awareness and stimulate a well-informed Brazilian public debate on biosafety.