Is there a child labor trap? Intergenerational persistence of child labor in Brazil
Is there a child labor trap? Intergenerational persistence of child labor in Brazil
复制标题
DOI：
10.1086/346003
复制
发表时间：
2003-01-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Souza, AP
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Emerson, PM;Souza, AP
童工是世界上普遍存在的现象，主要发生在发展中国家。最近，政治家、活动家和学者都对童工的持续存在和影响表示了新的关注。大多数流行的讨论集中在童工的有害影响和减少其发生率的方法上。在经济学方面，最近的许多理论文献都把注意力集中在这样一个事实上：让孩子去工作的决定很可能不是孩子自己做出的，而是出于迫切需要而这样做的家庭。这一认识促使人们以一种新的方式思考童工的影响和适当的政策反应。如果是一家之主做出雇佣童工的决定，那么就有可能在雇佣童工问题上存在代际联系。最近一些优秀的理论工作研究了这种联系，并确定了代际童工陷阱的可能性。然而，尽管有大量的理论工作，关于这个主题的实证工作明显缺乏。本文通过对巴西家庭调查数据的实证分析，考察了童工的代际持续性。以前关于童工的实证工作主要集中在利用调查数据孤立童工的决定因素。我们采取了另一种方法，即“父母的童工身份是否影响其子女的童工发生率？”我们从两个方面来看这个问题。我们的工作假设是，经济需求创造了这种代际联系，但我们也想知道，在通过收入生产（也许是通过规范）传递的联系之外，是否存在代际联系。我们找到了强有力的证据
Child labor is a widespread phenomenon in the world, occurring predominantly in developing countries. Recently, politicians, activists, and academics alike have shown renewed concern about the persistence and impact of child labor. Most of the popular discussion has centered on the harmful effects of child labor and ways to curtail its incidence. In economics, much of the recent theoretical literature has focused attention on the fact that the decision to send children to work is most likely made not by the children themselves but by households who do so out of dire need. 1 This realization has led to a new way of thinking about the effects of child labor and appropriate policy responses. If it is the head of the household that makes the child labor decision, it raises the possibility that there could be an intergenerational link in child labor. Some excellent recent theoretical work examines this link and identifies the potential for intergenerational child labor traps. 2 Despite this spate of theoretical work, however, there is a marked absence of empirical work on the topic. This article examines the intergenerational persistence of child labor empirically by looking at household survey data from Brazil. Previous empirical work on child labor has focused primarily on isolating the determinants of child labor using survey data. 3 We take a different approach by asking,“Does the child labor status of parents affect the child labor incidence of their children?” We look at this question in two ways. Our working assumption is that financial need creates this generational link, but we also ask if there exists an intergenerational link over and above that which is transmitted through the production of income (perhaps through norms). We find strong evidence