Sectorial reallocation of the occupation and its effects on the growth of informality in Brazil in the period 2015–2018

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between the changes in the sectoral composition of occupation and the growth of informality that occurred in Brazil in the period 2015–2018, using microdata from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). The results suggest that occupational reallocation in the activity sectors contributed negatively to increase informality in Brazil, in the Federation Units and for the groups of workers considered, whereas the reallocation in the work categories contributed positively. The negative contribution was attributed to the loss of participation of civil construction and agriculture in the total occupation and to the increase in the participation of services, due to the greater degree of informality in the first two sectors. The positive contribution in the categories of work was related to the loss of participation of salaried work and to the corresponding increase of self-employment since informality in this last form was higher.