Abstract
The structuring of social inequalities in the Latin American labour market can be explained from a double perspective. First, in general, from the theory of labour market segmentation, where it is possible to differentiate mainly the hierarchical configuration of a primary and a secondary segment, resulting from different characterising factors that converge on both the demand and supply sides of the labour market. Secondly, particularly for Latin America, the theory of structural heterogeneity explains how capitalist economies subjected to an unequal, combined and dependent development model generate modern productive sectors of high productivity that coexist with others of very low productivity linked to informality and social subsistence needs. Based on this approach, the chapter performs two analytical exercises: first, it obtains a typology of four country models by comparing “Key Labor Market Indicators” proposed by the ILO and, second, it analyses in depth one country of each type to account for a multidimensional model of employment segmentation with national labour force surveys. Our hypothesis is that the same general pattern of labour segmentation emerges despite the socioeconomic and institutional differences in each country.
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- 1.
The complete data matrix is attached in the appendix.
- 2.
We refer to contract conditions and the quality thereof, and we do not specifically capture the characteristics of labour from the demand side contextualised the way production and labour are aorganised, with effective functions and qualifications that are observable in the micro-social realities of jobs.
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Acknowledgements
This chapter was produced in the context of the INCASI Network, a European project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie GA, No. 691004, and coordinated by Dr. Pedro López-Roldán. This chapter only reflects the author’s views, and the Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
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Appendix. KILM Variables that Characterise 28 Latin-American and Caribbean Countries
Appendix. KILM Variables that Characterise 28 Latin-American and Caribbean Countries
Country | Employment_to_populaiton ratio | Status in employment | Employment agriculture | Employment services | Managers professionals | Advan-ced educa-tion | Hours of work | Informal employment | Unemployment rate | Labour underutilization | Youth NEET rate | Time-related underemployment | Month-ly earnin-gs | Lab-our costs | Labour productivity | Extre-mely poor | Higher economic class | Lab-our dependency ratio | Trade union density rate | Collec-tivebargain-ing coverage rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Argentina | 54.8 | 74.7 | 0.1 | 77.5 | 24.7 | 22.6 | 38 | 43.8 | 9.5 | 19.3 | 11.9 | 1201 | 1.1 | 46,753 | 0.1 | 96.4 | 1.4 | 27.7 | ||
2 | Bahamas | 65.7 | 85.6 | 2.6 | 81.3 | 30.1 | 11.9 | 53,657 | 0.0 | 95.8 | 0.9 | ||||||||||
3 | Barbados | 59.3 | 83.4 | 2.8 | 78.0 | 30.9 | 9.6 | 3.0 | 35,691 | 0.1 | 94.7 | 1.1 | |||||||||
4 | Belize | 60.9 | 66.2 | 17.6 | 67.8 | 25.7 | 20.0 | 43 | 9.4 | 12.7 | 27.3 | 3.6 | 997 | 18,643 | 3.4 | 73.4 | 1.4 | 9.1 | 9.1 | ||
5 | Bolivia | 65.7 | 37.6 | 28.1 | 50.2 | 17.2 | 18.8 | 43 | 74.7 | 3.3 | 10.2 | 11.6 | 5.3 | 1004 | 15,585 | 5.3 | 81.5 | 1.2 | 39.1 | ||
6 | Brazil | 55.9 | 67.8 | 9.4 | 70.2 | 23.8 | 22.0 | 38 | 36.0 | 12.5 | 24.3 | 24.2 | 7.3 | 1036 | 32,578 | 0.8 | 89.6 | 1.3 | 18.9 | 70.5 | |
7 | Chile | 57.9 | 71.5 | 9.2 | 68.1 | 26.2 | 18.3 | 40 | 22.2 | 7.2 | 21.7 | 15.9 | 8.7 | 896 | 13.6 | 50,669 | 0.3 | 95.6 | 1.2 | 19.6 | 17.9 |
8 | Colombia | 63.6 | 49.1 | 16.4 | 64.3 | 18.8 | 28.1 | 44 | 58.3 | 9.1 | 17.2 | 22.9 | 8.0 | 1294 | 27,492 | 1.9 | 81.5 | 1.0 | 9.5 | 15.7 | |
9 | Costa Rica | 55.2 | 75.8 | 12.5 | 69.1 | 23.3 | 20.1 | 42 | 35.5 | 8.1 | 25.6 | 19.0 | 8.2 | 2071 | 6.8 | 36,699 | 0.3 | 95.3 | 1.3 | 19.4 | 10.6 |
10 | Cuba | 52.4 | 90.7 | 18.3 | 64.9 | 21.5 | 16.0 | 41 | 2.3 | 36,390 | 0.0 | 93.6 | 1.3 | 81.4 | 81.4 | ||||||
11 | Dominican Republic | 60.3 | 56.3 | 9.5 | 71.1 | 16.4 | 12.5 | 41 | 50.9 | 5.8 | 17.1 | 24.3 | 5.4 | 683 | 35,298 | 0.9 | 84.7 | 1.3 | 11.0 | ||
12 | Ecuador | 66.4 | 50.9 | 27.5 | 54.0 | 13.3 | 15.4 | 38 | 52.4 | 3.9 | 17.7 | 22,306 | 3.9 | 80.7 | 1.1 | ||||||
13 | El Salvador | 58.3 | 60.0 | 18.5 | 59.7 | 10.7 | 5.8 | 42 | 68.2 | 4.4 | 14.9 | 28.4 | 8.7 | 609 | 17,419 | 0.7 | 77.1 | 1.4 | 19.0 | 5.0 | |
14 | Guatemala | 60.6 | 62.5 | 29.3 | 50.0 | 9.5 | 4.3 | 43 | 72.6 | 2.7 | 12.7 | 27.3 | 10.3 | 653 | 18,951 | 3.5 | 68.2 | 1.5 | 2.6 | ||
15 | Guyana | 50.5 | 39.4 | 18.5 | 55.9 | 17.9 | 7.3 | 35.9 | 12.2 | 30.6 | 1.4 | 7.0 | 826 | 21,259 | 1.8 | 79.8 | 1.8 | ||||
16 | Haiti | 58.7 | 13.8 | 49.8 | 39.9 | 6.5 | 13.5 | 35.2 | 4213 | 19.8 | 29.0 | 1.5 | |||||||||
17 | Honduras | 62.6 | 47.8 | 31.9 | 47.6 | 12.1 | 5.4 | 39 | 77.1 | 4.1 | 20.2 | 27.7 | 10.9 | 677 | 10,770 | 12.8 | 56.8 | 1.3 | |||
18 | Jamaica | 60.7 | 60.7 | 16.6 | 67.8 | 21.8 | 43 | 9.5 | 0.8 | 1439 | 17,762 | 0.3 | 82.9 | 1.1 | |||||||
19 | Mexico | 59.1 | 68.6 | 13.0 | 61.1 | 19.8 | 17.5 | 46 | 56.1 | 3.3 | 18.4 | 4.7 | 681 | 40,163 | 1.3 | 68.0 | 1.3 | 12.5 | |||
20 | Nicaragua | 63.7 | 55.2 | 31.0 | 52.3 | 15.2 | 9.6 | 36 | 74.9 | 4.5 | 1.4 | 25.9 | 1176 | 12,109 | 5.3 | 51.7 | 1.2 | 5.3 | |||
21 | Panama | 63.8 | 65.2 | 14.3 | 67.1 | 24.9 | 16.6 | 38 | 40.4 | 3.9 | 13.3 | 17.2 | 5.1 | 1298 | 49,792 | 0.4 | 92.5 | 1.2 | 11.9 | 1.0 | |
22 | Paraguay | 67.3 | 56.2 | 20.0 | 59.9 | 18.0 | 14.9 | 41 | 50.6 | 4.7 | 14.8 | 18.1 | 5.5 | 18,803 | 0.4 | 86.8 | 1.1 | 6.7 | 0.7 | ||
23 | Peru | 75.0 | 45.1 | 27.5 | 56.9 | 25.4 | 30.4 | 39 | 59.8 | 28 | 17.7 | 5.0 | 839 | 22,868 | 3.6 | 76.1 | 0.8 | 5.7 | 4.8 | ||
24 | Puerto Rico | 36.5 | 83.0 | 1.4 | 81.6 | 33.0 | 11.4 | 1673 | 99,961 | 0.0 | 99.6 | 2.3 | |||||||||
25 | Suriname | 47.7 | 86.0 | 7.0 | 68.3 | 32.4 | 7.6 | 39,627 | 6.3 | 77.2 | 1.8 | ||||||||||
26 | Trinidad and Tobago | 58.9 | 76.6 | 3.2 | 69.5 | 30.6 | 22.0 | 2.8 | 52.1 | 63,561 | 0.0 | 95.1 | 1.1 | 19.8 | |||||||
27 | Uruguay | 59.2 | 72.0 | 8.7 | 71.6 | 22.4 | 15.1 | 43 | 26.7 | 8.0 | 20.4 | 18.0 | 9.4 | 1219 | 45,117 | 0.0 | 98.3 | 1.1 | 30.1 | ||
28 | Venezuela | 57.0 | 63.5 | 7.2 | 71.7 | 26.7 | 29.4 | 38 | 8.4 | 19.6 | 833 | 27,550 | 10.1 | 66.7 | 1.4 I | 0.2 | 2.5 |
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López-Roldán, P., Fachelli, S. (2022). Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities in the Latin American Labour Market. In: Vommaro, P., Baisotti, P. (eds) Persistence and Emergencies of Inequalities in Latin America. Latin American Societies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90495-1_13
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