Valéria Pero

Valéria Pero is a professor at the Institute of Economics Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IE-UFRJ) and a member of the UFRJ/UFF Centre for on Inequalities and Development (CEDE) at UFRJ/UFF, where she coordinates various research and student training activities. She obtained obtained her PhD in Economics at UFRJ and has coordinated and participated in projects linked to two major areas of research: 1) the labour market informality and urban mobility; 2) income inequality mobility, poverty and social policies. She participated in the European Nopoor project on the effects of poverty reduction policies in developing countries. In 2019, she was a visiting researcher at IHEAL/Université Nouvelle Sorbonne and DIAL (IRD-Université Paris-Dauphine). His research and publications focus on various aspects of Brazil's socio-economic development, covering topics of wide thematic and methodological scope, such as: the evolution of intergenerational income mobility and equality of opportunity; the relationship between labor informality, precariousness and income inequality; social norms and the persistence of gender pay inequalities; the impact assessment of public policies.

The project

Title: New informalities and inequalities: the impact of new technologies on the Brazilian labor market

The labor market has undergone profound changes as a result of ongoing structural transformations. New information and communication technologies, trade and production globalization, and the transition to a green economy have the potential to affect not only the volume of employment and its sectoral distribution, but also its quality. The flexibilization of contracts and new employee-employer relations are changing working conditions, with significant risks of casualization. Given that inequality is a major concern for Brazil, the implications of these upheavals, which aggravate or attenuate existing multiple disparities, merit in-depth analysis. The effects of integrating these new technologies into the production process and the daily lives of consumers can, on the one hand, increase the productivity of economies and contribute to a more sustainable use of resources, and, on the other, generate negative effects in terms of employment. In addition to the negative impact on the number of jobs, the robotization of tasks of intermediate and everyday complexity partly explains the trend towards polarization of the labor market. What's more, the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and the development of communication networks has facilitated the emergence of digital work platforms, responsible for profound transformations in working relationships.

Hosting institution: Institut de Recherche pour le Dévelopement (IRD) - Développement Institutions Mondialisation (DIAL) - LEDa

Selective Bibliography

• Lima, J.; Pero, Valéria; Waltenberg, F. “Evaluating the role of a cash transfer program in promoting local employment: A generalized synthetic control approach”. Revue d'économie du développement, v. 31, p.111 – 117, 2023
• Castilho, M.; Pero, Valéria; Razafindrakoto, M.; Roubaud, F.; Saboia, J. “Negacionismo e o papel dos fatores políticos para a mortalidade por Covid-19 no Brasil”. Nova Economia (UFMG), v.33, p.65 - 93, 2023.
• Pero, Valéria; Machado, D.; Fontes, A. “Informalidad laboral en Brasil: análisis de diferentes definiciones y tendencias recientes”. In: Diálogos sobre Socioeconomía. Precariedad laboral, informalidad y mujer. Políticas de cuidados.1 ed.México: Instituto Belisario Domínguez, Senado De La República, p. 72-95, 2022
• Razafindrakoto, M.; Roubaud, F.; Saboia, J.; Castilho, M.; Pero, Valéria. “Municípios in the Time of Covid-19 in Brazil: Socioeconomic Vulnerabilities, Transmission Factors and Public Policies”. European Journal of Development Research, v.1, p.2730-2758, 2021.
• Pero, Valéria; Machado, D. C.; Fontes, A. “Labor informality in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic”. In: Debates sobre socioeconomía: Informalidad en America Latina.1 ed.Valencia: Tirant Humanidades, p. 185-208, 2021.
• Pero, Valéria; Cruz, G.  “Gender Differences in Intergenerational Income Mobility in Brazil”. In: Advances in Women’s Empowerment: Critical Insight from Asia, Africa and Latin America.1 ed.Bingley, West Yorkshire, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited, v.29, p. 65-93, 2020.