Wage inequalities among Brazilian construction workers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46421/entac.v20i1.5994Keywords:
Civil construction, Fair wage, WorkersAbstract
The construction industry is one of the leading sectors worldwide and has a significant impact on the global economy. Despite its positive contributions, it also faces numerous challenges, particularly concerning worker remuneration. The aim of this study was to identify wage distribution differences among construction workers across various Brazilian regions and understand their social conditions concerning the "fair wage" subcategory in the context of Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). A literature review was conducted to identify themes related to worker wages integrating the S-LCA approach. Documents from 25 states and the Federal District were collected. It was observed that the southern and southeastern regions of the country have the highest wages, while the northern, northeastern, and midwestern regions have wages close to the minimum wage in effect during the study period. This information contributes to understanding social and economic inequalities and aids in formulating public policies aimed at reducing these disparities.
References
G.A. Akerlof, J.L. Yellen, The Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 105, 255, 1990.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2937787.
A. Bryson, B. Buraimo, R. Simmons, Do salaries improve worker performance?, Labour Economics, 18, 424–433, 2011. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2010.12.005.
M.R. Hall, The living wage gap — a quantitative measure of poverty in global supply chains, The International Journal of Life Cycle
Assessment, 26, 1867–1877, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01945-7.
M.S. Akhtar, H. Khan, J.J. Liu, J. Na, Green hydrogen and sustainable development – A social LCA perspective highlighting social
hotspots and geopolitical implications of the future hydrogen economy, Journal of Cleaner Production, 395, 136438, 2023. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136438.
U. Hossain, C.S. Poon, Y.H. Dong, I.M.C. Lo, J.C.P. Cheng, Development of social sustainability assessment method and a
comparative case study on assessing recycled construction materials, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 23, 1654–
, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-017-1373-0.
C. Mármol, A. Martín-Mariscal, A. Picardo, E. Peralta, Social life cycle assessment for industrial product development: A
comprehensive review and analysis, Heliyon, 9, e22861, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22861.
U.N.E.P. UNEP, SETAC, Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products, 2009. Disponível em: https://www.unep.org/
resources/report/guidelines-social-life-cycle-assessment-products.
P.C. Vitorio Junior, M. Kripka, Fair wage potential as a tool for social assessment in building projects, Engineering, Construction
and Architectural Management, 28, 1295–1318, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-01-2020-0024.
R. Rebolledo-Leiva, M.T. Moreira, S. González-Garcia, Progress of social assessment in the framework of bioeconomy under a life
cycle perspective, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 175, 113162, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113162.
P.R. Croes, W.J.V. Vermeulen, In search of income reference points for SLCA using a country level sustainability benchmark (part 2):
fair minimum wage. A contribution to the Oiconomy project, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21, 361–377, 2016.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-1017-1.
S. Neugebauer, Y. Emara, C. Hellerström, M. Finkbeiner, Calculation of Fair wage potentials along products’ life cycle - introduction
of a new midpoint impact category for social life cycle assessment, Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 1221–1232, 2017. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.11.172.
S. Mair, A. Druckman, T. Jackson, Investigating fairness in global supply chains: applying an extension of the living wage to the
Western European clothing supply chain, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 23, 1862–1873, 2018. https://
doi.org/10.1007/s11367-017-1390-z.
Y.-J. Chang, G. Sproesser, S. Neugebauer, K. Wolf, R. Scheumann, A. Pittner, M. Rethmeier, M. Finkbeiner, Environmental and Social
Life Cycle Assessment of Welding Technologies, Procedia CIRP, 26, 293–298, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2014.07.084.
M.E. Falagas, E.I. Pitsoun, G.A. Malietzis, G. Pappas, Comparison of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar:
Strengths and Weaknesses, FASEB J, 22, 338–342, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.07-9492LSF.
Y.H. Dong, S.T. Ng, A social life cycle assessment model for building construction in Hong Kong, International Journal of Life Cycle
Assessment, 20, 1166–1180, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-0908-5.
S.A. Hosseinijou, S. Mansour, M.A. Shirazi, Social life cycle assessment for material selection: a case study of building materials,
International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 19, 620–645, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-013-0658-1.
A.T. Balasbaneh, A.K. Bin Marsono, S.J. Khaleghi, Sustainability choice of different hybrid timber structure for low medium cost
single-story residential building: Environmental, economic and social assessment, Journal of Building Engineering, 20, 235–247,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2018.07.006.
N.H. Leff, Economic Development and Regional Inequality: Origins of the Brazilian Case, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 86,
, 1972. https://doi.org/10.2307/1880562.
T.W. Merrick, D.H. Graham, Population and Economic Development in Brazil, 1800 to the Present, The Journal of Economic History,
, 649–650, 1979.
C. Furtado, Formação Econômica do Brasil, 32nd ed., Companhia Editora Nacional, São Paulo, 2005.
R. da S. ANDRADE, P. H. P. de GONÇALVES, E. FREGUGLIA, Concentração geográfica de ocupações por regiões metropolitanas
brasileiras, Revista Brasileira de Estudos Regionais e Urbanos, 8, 155–173, 2015.
W. Cano, Desequilíbrios regionais e concentração industrial no Brasil: 1930-1970, 1985.
W., A economia brasileira, Nobel, São Paulo, 2008.
T.A. Zamberlan Pereira, THE NORTH–SOUTH DIVIDE: REAL WAGES AND WELFARE IN BRAZIL DURING THE EARLY 20 TH CENTURY,
Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 38, 185–214, 2020. https://
doi.org/10.1017/S0212610919000132.
J.G. Williamson, Regional Inequality and the Process of National Development: A Description of the Patterns, Economic
Development and Cultural Change, 13, 1–84, 1965. https://doi.org/10.1086/450136.
R. Shankar, A. Shah, Bridging the Economic Divide Within Countries: A Scorecard on the Performance of Regional Policies in
Reducing Regional Income Disparities, World Development, 31, 1421–1441, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(03)00098-6.
C.R. Azzoni, Economic growth and regional income inequality in Brazil, The Annals of Regional Science, 35, 133–152, 2001. https://
doi.org/10.1007/s001680000038.
M.O. Felício, A.M. de O. Silva, E.L. de M. Neto, H. de S.C. Oliveira, H.C.M. Koseki, M.M. Martins, M.G. de F. Pereira, T. de B.S.
Ximenes, Segurança do trabalho: os problemas nos canteiros de obras por falta dos equipamentos de proteção individual – EPI’S,
Brazilian Journal of Development, 8, 47029–47047, 2022. https://doi.org/10.34117/bjdv8n6-284.
F.G.P. Moreira, C.P. de O. Pereira, C.A. Farias, Workplace accidents and the probabilities of injuries occurring in the civil
construction industry in Brazilian Amazon: A descriptive and inferential analysis, Safety Science, 173, 106449, 2024. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106449.
R. Oliveira, R. da M.S. Neto, Brazil’s south–north labour income gap re-examined: evidence across purchasing power adjusted
wage distributions, Regional Studies, 56, 1–21, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2021.1962005.
I.L.O. ILO, Brazil – from regional, to national, to a combination of national and regional rates, ILO, 2016. Disponível em: https://
www.ilo.org/resource/brazil-regional-national-combination-national-and-regional-rates, accessed May 17, 2024.
E.L. GLAESER, M. RESSEGER, K. TOBIO, Inequality in cities, Journal of Regional Science, 49, 617–646, 2009.
R.D.M.S. NETO, C.R. AZZONI, Non-Spatial Government Policies and Regional Income Inequality in Brazil, Regional Studies, 45, 453–
, 2010.
L.E.B. CARAZZA, Three essays on urban economics: evidences from Brazil, Tese (Doutorado) - Curso de Economia, Universidade
Federal de Pernambuco, 2016.
A.M. de S.S. de Oliveira, R.R. de Oliveira, Construction workers training: statistical analysis of knowledge transfer, PARC Pesquisa
Em Arquitetura e Coonstrução, 6, 304–316, 2015. https://doi.org/10.20396/parc.v6i4.8639503.
F.D. de L. Pinto, J.S. Böes, Lifting of the main pathological manifestations identified through predial inspections in Fortaleza-Brazil,
in: Constr. Pathol. Rehabil. Technol. Herit. Manag., Granada, Spain, 2020: pp. 1–9.
DIEESE, A Construção Civil e os Trabalhadores: panorama dos anos recentes, São Paulo, 2020. Disponível em: https://
www.dieese.org.br/estudosepesquisas/2020/estPesq95trabconstrucaocivil.html.
O.J. Sotomayor, Can the minimum wage reduce poverty and inequality in the developing world? Evidence from Brazil, World
Development, 138, 105182, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105182.
D. Sullivan, J. Hickel, Capitalism and extreme poverty: A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long
th century, World Development, 161, 106026, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106026.
IBGE, Annual Construction Industry Survey, IBGE, Brasil, 2021. Disponível em: https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas/economicas/
industria/9018-pesquisa-anual-da-industria-da-construcao.html?=&t=downloads.