The gender wage gap in three African countries

Economic Development and Cultural Change

Volumn 47, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 289-312

  Appleton, Simon ^a   Hoddinott, John ^a   Krishnan, Pramila ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GENDER DISPARITY; INCOME DISTRIBUTION; WAGE GAP;

COTE D'IVOIRE; ETHIOPIA; UGANDA;

EID: 0032956371     PISSN: 00130079     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/452402     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Gary Becker, Human Capital (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975).
2. G. Psacharopoulos and Z. Tzannatos, eds., Women's Employment and Pay in Latin America; Overview and Methodology (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1992).
3. S. Horton, ed., Women and Industrialization in Asia (London and New York: Routledge, 1996).
4. This is not to deny that many studies have estimated earnings functions separately by sex. However, we have found only three that carry out formal decomposition analyses of the gender gap.
5. J. Knight and R. Sabot, "Labour Market Discrimination in a Poor Urban Country," Journal of Development Studies 19 (1982): 67-87.
6. J. Armitage and R. Sabot, "Discrimination in East Africa's Urban Labor Markets," in Unfair Advantage: Labor Market Discrimination in Developing Countries, ed. N. Birdsall and R. Sabot (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1991).
7. P. Click and D. Sahn, "Gender and Education Impacts on Employment and Earnings from Conakry, Guinea," Economic Development and Cultural Change 45 (1997): 793-824.
8. D. Neumark, "Employers' Discriminatory Behaviour and the Estimation of Wage Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources 23 (1988): 279-95.
9. R. Oaxaca, "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review 9 (1973): 693-709; and A. Blinder, "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources 8 (1973): 436-55.
10. R. Oaxaca, "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review 9 (1973): 693-709; and A. Blinder, "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources 8 (1973): 436-55.
11. J. Cotton, "On the Decomposition of Wage Differentials," Review of Economics and Statistics 70 (1988): 236-43; Neumark; and R. Oaxaca and M. Ransom, "Discrimination and Wage Decomposition," Journal of Econometrics 61 (1994): 5-21.
12. J. Cotton, "On the Decomposition of Wage Differentials," Review of Economics and Statistics 70 (1988): 236-43; Neumark; and R. Oaxaca and M. Ransom, "Discrimination and Wage Decomposition," Journal of Econometrics 61 (1994): 5-21.
13. R. Brown, M. Moon, and B. Zoloth, "Incorporating Occupational Attainment in Studies of Male-Female Earnings Differentials," Journal of Human Resources 15 (1980): 3-28; W. Even and D. Macpherson, "The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Human Resources 28 (1993): 279-96; and D. J. Doiron and W. C. Riddell, "The Impact of Unionization on Male-Female Earnings Differences in Canada," Journal of Human Resources 24 (1994): 504-34.
14. R. Brown, M. Moon, and B. Zoloth, "Incorporating Occupational Attainment in Studies of Male-Female Earnings Differentials," Journal of Human Resources 15 (1980): 3-28; W. Even and D. Macpherson, "The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Human Resources 28 (1993): 279-96; and D. J. Doiron and W. C. Riddell, "The Impact of Unionization on Male-Female Earnings Differences in Canada," Journal of Human Resources 24 (1994): 504-34.
15. R. Brown, M. Moon, and B. Zoloth, "Incorporating Occupational Attainment in Studies of Male-Female Earnings Differentials," Journal of Human Resources 15 (1980): 3-28; W. Even and D. Macpherson, "The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Human Resources 28 (1993): 279-96; and D. J. Doiron and W. C. Riddell, "The Impact of Unionization on Male-Female Earnings Differences in Canada," Journal of Human Resources 24 (1994): 504-34.
16. See Oaxaca.
17. M. A. Ferber and C. A. Green, "Traditional or Reverse Sex Discrimination? A Case Study of a Large Public University," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 5 (1982): 550-64.
18. See Neumark.
19. See Oaxaca and Ransom; Cotton.
20. M. Boissiere, J. Knight, and R. Sabot, "Earnings, Schooling, Ability, and Cognitive Skills," American Economic Review 75 (1985): 1016-30.
21. See Even and Macpherson; Doiron and Riddell.
22. This difference in age ranges may cause problems of comparability between the surveys. However, in response to the suggestion of a referee, we restricted the Ivorian and Ugandan samples to those over 25 years of age (results not reported but available on request). We found similar parameter estimates and variable means - with the obvious exception of the potential experience variables. Consequently, we are confident that the results are robust to age effects.
23. For example, at the recommendation of a referee, we excluded variables for parental occupation and education from the earnings functions. When included directly in the earnings functions, these had a large effect in Ethiopia (see P. Krishnan, "Family Background, Education and Employment in Urban Ethiopia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 58 [1996]: 167-83). Excluding them from the earnings functions but not the logits (as in this article) increases the significance of the selectivity terms.
24. See Oaxaca (n. 9 above); and Oaxaca and Ransom (n. 10 above). The parameter estimates used to generate these results are based on the wage equations reported in appendix tables Al-A4. (The multinomial logits used to derive the predicted probabilities and the inverse Mill's ratios are not reported here; they are available on request.)
25. See E. K. Arap-Maritim, "Sex Difference in Vocational Aspiration and Sex-Role Perceptions in Rural Kenya," Journal of Social Psychology 24 (1984): 159-64; and M. Peil, "African Secondary Students and Their Societies," Comparative Education 18 (1982): 157-74.
26. See E. K. Arap-Maritim, "Sex Difference in Vocational Aspiration and Sex-Role Perceptions in Rural Kenya," Journal of Social Psychology 24 (1984): 159-64; and M. Peil, "African Secondary Students and Their Societies," Comparative Education 18 (1982): 157-74.
27. In reality, large scale retrenchments are likely to be associated with changes in the earnings structure. Retrenchment would be selective, but we have no information on the criteria likely to be used in the process.
28. L. Lee, "Unionism and Wage Rates: A Simultaneous Equation Model with Qualitative and Limited Dependent Variables," International Economic Review 19 (1978): 415-33.
29. See Psacharopoulos and Tzannatos, eds. (n. 2 above); Horton, ed. (n. 3 above).
30. ij], where Φ(.) and Φ(.) denote the density and cumulative distribution functions, respectively, of the standard normal distribution. The presence of the additional constructed selectivity correction renders the standard errors incorrect. In the empirical work, White's standard errors were used to provide asymptotically consistent values (see H. White, "A Heteroscedasticity Consistent Covariance Matrix and a Direct Test for Heteroscedasticity," Econometrica 46 [1978]: 817-38).
31. C. Reimers, "Labor Market Discrimination against Hispanic and Black Men," Review of Economics and Statistics 65 (1983): 570-79.