Abstract
The paper analyzes the financial return of education to graduated workers, considering the effects of individual characteristics and, above all, of labor market local variables, as well as social and economic ones, of the municipalities in the Southern region of Brazil. To capture the effects of these variables, earnings equations were estimated using two-level hierarchical models. Data from the 2010 Demographic Census, made by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) were used. The results showed a differential in the return according to the course chosen by the individual. It was noted that stricto sensu post-graduation positively impacts education financial returns. Also, the local conditions of the municipalities influence the returns to graduated workers, highlighting the positive effect of the unemployment rate on the return to education, so that graduated workers are more protected from economic crises than the others. The policies to promote social development and economic growth in municipalities generate important impacts on the income of workers with higher education.
Keywords
Human capital; Higher education; Labor economics; Hierarchical model; Southern of Brazil