Causes of Involuntary Unemployment in Brazil

Abstract

Unemployment has been approached in research focusing on macroeconomic aspects, but from the microeconomic perspective, the literature is still recent. The objective of this work is to analyze the determinants of involuntary unemployment in Brazil. Thus, a Logit model is applied to data from the 2015 National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). Among the results, we find that younger individuals, living in rural areas, which have less education, tend to be more in involuntary unemployment. Also, analyzing the marginal effects of race and marital status, non-white and/or unmarried individuals are more likely to be unemployed, suggesting possible discrimination.