The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in research about women in Venezuela by investigating the determinants of their labor force participation between 1995 and 1998. The Central Office of Statistics and Information in Venezuela provides cross-sectional data collected semiannually about individual, demographic, socio-economic and geographical characteristics of individuals living in Venezuela during this period. This study uses binomial and multinomial logit models to test a number of hypotheses. First, the full sample of women between 15 and 60 years old is used to investigate the importance of individual, demographic, socioeconomic, and geographical characteristics in the labor force participation decision, also controlling for a time trend. The same decision is also analyzed for three subsamples: married women, single women, and women heads of household. Comparisons are made between each subsample and the full sample, and also among the different subsamples. Next, multinomial regressions using the same explanatory variables are performed to examine labor market behavior when there is a three-way choice: whether to participate in the formal sector, the informal sector or not to participate in the labor market at all. The multinomial regressions are also performed on the three subsamples as well as on the full sample. Again comparisons are made between each subsample and the full sample and also among the three subsamples. The results of these analyses show considerable differences in motivating factors among the three groups. The conclusion that must be drawn from this research is that one cannot generalize about the women's labor force participation just by studying the behavior of women in the aggregate. The relative importance of motivating factors depends strongly on the specific subsample to which a woman belongs, a fact unrevealed by previous empirical work. The more detailed analyses produced by this dissertation provide deeper understanding of the labor force participation of Venezuelan women. This information will make a valuable contribution to policy-makers who seek to encourage the important economic contribution of women to this previously under-studied labor market.

247f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-11T19:39:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcia Macedoseg.pdf: 2163527 bytes, checksum: 6780afa8a23b65f3c47a7d37991c40b7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-16T17:33:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcia Macedoseg.pdf: 2163527 bytes, checksum: 6780afa8a23b65f3c47a7d37991c40b7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-16T17:33:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcia Macedoseg.pdf: 2163527 bytes, checksum: 6780afa8a23b65f3c47a7d37991c40b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Nesta tese busco entender a realidade ainda pouco conhecida das mulheres chefes de família de classes médias em Salvador, visto que a grande maioria dos estudos sobre chefia feminina vem insistindo na homogeneidade desse grupo social e tem associado sua expansão à ampliação dos processos de pauperização, contemporaneamente sintetizado na idéia de uma feminização da pobreza. Assim, através de estudo qualitativo, me proponho a discutir as trajetórias e experiências de 32 mulheres soteropolitanas de classe média, face à condição de chefia dos seus núcleos doméstico-familiares, tentando entender a pluralidade de caminhos que levou essas mulheres – na condição de separada, viúva, solteira e mesmo de casada – a assumir a responsabilidade pela provisão econômica e exercício da autoridade junto às suas respectivas famílias. Assim, busco ainda refletir, nesse contexto, como esta experiência de chefia vem sendo conformada face à articulação interseccional dos pertencimentos sociais de classe, gênero, raça/etnia e idade/geração, dando ênfase, portanto, às possíveis interconexões entre sistemas de opressão. Nessa perspectiva, me proponho ao duplo desafio de discutir os significados dessa experiência intra-classe, a partir do entendimento da combinação dos múltiplos pertencimentos sociais e, ainda, comparativamente, buscarei entender, mesmo que em menor profundidade, na dimensão inter-classe, como essas experiências se afastam e se aproximam quando confrontadas com a realidade vivida pelas mulheres chefes de família de classes populares, a partir de pesquisa realizada anteriormente como dissertação de mestrado. / Salvador