Retorno à educação na Região Metropolitana de Salvador e efeitos espaciais salariais

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify possible spatial effects in estimating the return to education in the Salvador Metropolitan Region. The literature in Labor Economics estimates the return to education based on observed and unobserved worker characteristics. Regional and Urban Economics has included location as a determinant of wages but disregarded the presence of spatial autocorrelation in wage distribution. Social interactions between individuals belonging to certain groups (spaces) may explain part of the wages. This article uses spatial econometrics to estimate an extended Mincerian wage equation. The study uses a sample of microdata from the 2010 Demographic Census for the weighted areas of the Salvador Metropolitan Region. The econometric specification uses the Spatial Autoregressive Model, and the estimation is performed using the Ordinary Least Squares method and the Generalized Method of Moments in two stages. The results showed a 5.6% return to education for individuals in the Salvador metropolitan region. This return remained unchanged after the spatial wage lag was included. The results showed a 1.4% wage gain from the wages of neighbors within the same weighted area. This result suggests that peer effects exist in individual wage determination.