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Begin New Search Publishing Institution Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD) Author Beatriz Muriel

1. Engaging Gender Equality in the Economic-Productive Sphere

Author:
Beatriz Muriel and Daniel Romero
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This study reviews the conceptual framework of the economic-productive sphere and of gender equality, the aim of which is to establish theoretical-practical lines allowing progress in engaging these two spheres. In this context, equality in opportunities and in rights can be harmonized, though equality of “responsibilities, resources and retribution” by gender are more difficult to reconcile. Also, women’s (economic) empowerment – seen as a way of promoting gender equality – possesses a degree of relation with the theory of growth and wellbeing when an individual has the role of consumer, for which “capabilities” are needed for selecting valuable “functionings”. However, when such a woman takes on the role of worker, producer or businesswoman, her seeking of a high level of economic-productive performance does not imply that she is empowered, nor does the latter imply the former; though there may be a positive correlation between the two. On this basis, economic-productive interventions may harmonize with equality of opportunities by gender.
Topic:
Economic Growth, Equality, Empowerment, Gender, and Well-Being
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. An Experimental Game on Entrepreneurship and Labour Protection Policy

Author:
Beatriz Muriel and Marcelo Gutierrez
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
We developed a game, in the line of experimental economics, using an expected utility framework, applied to 108 participants. Specifically, we evaluated the hypothesis that, facing uncertainty over potential employees’ skills, employers prefer a flexible labour policy rather than a protectionist one, and when the option of flexible labour contracts is not available, they choose not to undertake a business, reducing job creation. The empirical results show that 79.3% of participants prefer a flexible labour policy, as well as that when this option is excluded, some participants abstain from business undertakings---reducing job creation---, and instead become workers.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Employment, Risk, and Flexibility
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Wage Differentials: Trade Openness and Wage Bargaining

Author:
Gustavo Gonzaga, Beatriz Muriel, and Cristina Terra
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
We build a theoretical model that incorporates unionization in the labor market into a Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) framework to investigate the impact of unionization on the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem. To capture the American economy case, we assume that unskilled labor in the manufactured goods sector is unionized, and that sector is intensive in skilled labor, and that trade liberalization increases the relative price of manufactured goods. In the HOS model, trade liberalization induces a reallocation of production towards the sector that uses intensively the country’s most abundant factor. The resulting change in relative labor demand impacts wage bargaining in the unionized sector, which, in turn, has a dampening effect on the Stolper-Samuelson effect. Moreover, wages of unionized workers are even less responsive to trade liberalization. Through traditional mandated-wages regressions, we show that skilled-wage differentials changes were less pronounced among more unionized sectors in the U.S. economy for the 1979-1990 period.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Economy, Manufacturing, Trade, and Wages
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Employment and Labor Regulation: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms in Bolivia, 1988-2007

Author:
Beatriz Muriel and Carlos Gustavo Machicado
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper analyzes employment in Bolivian registered manufacturing firms during 1988 to 2007, establishing its relationship with labor regulation. Estimating job flows, we find that firms with high temporary worker rates (less labor regulation costs) are those with both higher job reallocation rates and higher net employment growth, and only they contributed to employment growth during the country economic downturn, 1998-1999. In addition, estimating demand functions, we find the following effects of recent changes in labor norms: i) the compulsory basic salary rise in 2006-2009 entailed costs in terms of job losses, 5.6 percent for production workers and 4.8 percent for non-production workers; iii) the major labor costs derived from the new pension law, enacted in 2010, decreased employment demand around 1 percent; and, iv) labor protection policies decreased production workers demand.
Topic:
History, Labor Issues, Employment, Regulation, Business, and Manufacturing
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

5. Non-agricultural labor from rural farmers in Bolivia: An analysis of determinants and effects

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen, Beatriz Muriel, and Horacio Valencia
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper analyses non-agricultural work supplied by rural households in Bolivia. It is shown that roughly 50% of all rural households complement their incomes through non-agricultural work, but that households in the lowlands are more likely to do so than households in the highlands. Since non-agricultural work pays several times better than agricultural work, access to this source of complementary income constitutes an important opportunity to escape rural poverty.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Poverty, Rural, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

6. Informality and Productivity in Bolivia: A Gender Differentiated Empirical Analysis

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Beatriz Muriel
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This report analyzes gender differences in informality and productivity in urban Bolivia. Rural Bolivia is excluded from the analysis for three reasons: 1) informality in rural areas is close to 100% for both men and women2 , 2) farming is a family business and it is impossible to tell if one family member is more productive than another, and 3) data on productivity and profitability is too unreliable in rural areas. The urban labor market in Bolivia can be divided into 4 main sectors: 1) the public sector, 2) the formal private sector, 3) self-employed informals, and 4) informal workers. Although incomes are generally higher in the public sector and in the formal private sector, there is a strong preference in Bolivia for being informally self-employed. Two thirds of both men and women in urban areas respond that they would prefer to be self-employed rather than a salaried employee,3 and few see any advantage of becoming formal under the current institutional set-up.4 Currently, half of all economically active women in urban areas are informally selfemployed, while this is the case for only one third of men. This implies that women are actually closer to the desired state than men, according to their own preferences. The real problem for women is not that they are informally self-employed, but rather that the profitability of their informal enterprises is low. On average, monthly profits of female micro-entrepreneurs is about 40% lower than those of male micro-entrepreneurs.5 This report uses quantitative information from about 600 micro and small enterprises to break down and understand this gender gap in profitability, and the results show that almost the whole gap is due to the fact that women operate their businesses on a much smaller scale (with less productive capital and fewer employees) than men. Why do female entrepreneurs operate on a smaller scale? One partial explanation is that they do not want to grow, because the business then would loose some of the features that make a micro-business particularly attractive for women (not to depend on others, to be able to care for children simultaneously, flexible working hours, and daily revenues). When asked about what they consider the ideal number of employees for their business five years into the future, the average for women is 6.9 compared to 9.2 for men. Single women are generally a bit more ambitious than married or cohabiting women (the first would on average like 5.3 additional employees, whereas the latter only wants 4.2 extra employees),6 which suggests that family obligations may be one of the reasons why women prefer to keep their businesses at a relatively small scale.
Topic:
Economy, Productivity, Gender, and Informality
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia