Informalidade na região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro a partir de 1980

Abstract

This dissertation is a contribution to the theoretical debate related to the behavior of labor market and informality in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro, especially since de 1990s. The data used in the analysis come from RAIS Social Informations Annual Report; CAGED a database that registers all formal employment hiring and dismissals over the year at the Ministry of Labor; PNAD National Household Annual Survey; PME IBGE s monthly employment survey; and ECINF IBGE s survey on the urban informal economy. Data are disaggregated according to the traditional sectors. A central hypothesis addressed in this work is that of a causal relation between economic policies implemented as of 1990 such as privatization of state owned companies, trade and financial liberalization. They were crucial to explain the variations in formal employment levels in industry and the significant increase in the informal sector, especially in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro. The analysis at the sectoral level confirms that informality has grown to become a structural feature of Rio de Janeiro s metropolitan area economy, and not simply a transitory phenomenon related to a decline in industrial activities.