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The causal impacts of child labor law in Brazil : some preliminary findings

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  • Piza,Caio
  • Portela Souza,André

Abstract

This paper investigates the causal impact of the change in Brazil?s child labor law of December 1998. The change increased the minimum legal age of entry into the labor force from 14 to 16 years. The analysis uses a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the impact of this change in the law on labor force participation rates as a whole, as well as for the formal and informal sectors separately. The results show that the ban reduced participation rates for boys by 4 percentage points and that this effect was mostly driven by the informal sector. No effect is found for girls.

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  • Piza,Caio & Portela Souza,André, 2015. "The causal impacts of child labor law in Brazil : some preliminary findings," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7444, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7444
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    Cited by:

    1. Caio Piza & André Portela Souza & Patrick M Emerson & Vivian Amorim, 2024. "The Short- and Longer-Term Effects of a Child Labor Ban," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 38(2), pages 351-370.
    2. Olivier Bargain & Delphine Boutin, 2021. "Minimum Age Regulation and Child Labor: New Evidence from Brazil," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(1), pages 234-260.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Children and Youth; Labor Markets; Street Children; Labor Policies; Youth and Government;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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