Occupational segregation and gender wage differences: evidence from Urban Colombia

Asian Economic Journal, 2017

In Malaysia, the participation of women in the labor market has increased over time. However, occupational segregation and wage differentials continue to be prevalent between men and women in the labor market. The present paper investigates gender-related occupational segregation and wage differentials based on data collected from 7135 working households in Peninsular Malaysia in 2011. The wage decomposition model introduced by Brown et al. (1980) is used to examine the determinants of gender-related wage differentials. The results suggest that differences within occupations account for the largest portion of the wage gap between men and women. The results also indicate that wage discrimination within occupations plays an important role in the gender wage gap, while sample selection bias plays an important role in the examination of gender wage gaps.

2012

More women participate in the labour force nowadays than in the past. However, they do not join the workforce as equal members. Segregation in occupational distribution and pay differentials between men and women remain pervasive. This article uses data from the Malaysian Population and Family Survey 2004 to shed light on the inequality in earnings based on the framework developed by Brown et al. (1980). The empirical results suggest that segregation per se works to the advantage of women. A surprising finding is that the intra-occupational component, which is unjustified by reference to observed characteristics, is responsible for the overall earnings gap. It is likely that the within-occupational earnings discrimination reflects hierarchical segregation. Also, a portion of the earnings gap is attributed to a sample selection effect. Our results suggest that a timely policy intervention would aim to find ways of improving the returns to characteristics earned by women in a given oc...

The 5TH ISM INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CONFERENCE 2021 (ISM-V): Statistics in the Spotlight: Navigating the New Norm

Labour force landscape in Malaysia has grown significantly due to development of the country since the era of independence. The most noticeable change in the aspect of labour force participation is that women's labour force participation is growing not only in Malaysia but also around the world. Rapid developments in the usage of cutting-edge technology, as well as the range of skills that companies demand, have resulted in a more dynamic and competitive workplace. However, the key issue that has not been addressed as the labour market grows is gender wage differential. Various theories and findings have been presented to unravel these issues. In fact, this issue also has a place in high-level forum including United Nation. The wage model is estimated using a pooled model and separate model of gender based on secondary data from the Salaries and Wages Survey, 2018 from Department of Statistics Malaysia. The OLS results suggest that demographic factors, human capital aspects and job characteristics play a significant role in assessing the gender wage difference.

Studies have found that on average males earn substantially higher wages than females. Females are paid lower than their male counterparts due to several reasons such as educational attainment, job characteristics and types of industries. Even after accounting for variations in these productivity-related characteristics, gender wage differentials may still prevail as a result of discriminatory practice by employers. This paper attempts to measure the determinants of wage differentials by gender in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The analysis is based on a survey of 2,046 workers in six major industries conducted in 1999. These are the electrical and electronics, textile, wood-based, transport equipment, food and chemical industries. The determinants of wage differentials are obtained by using the coefficients of the earnings functions. These factors are decomposed into several categories, namely, demographic factors, human capital, job characteristics and industry characteristic...

Notas Económicas, 2009

The study analyzes the role of occupational distribution in explaining the male-female wage gap in the Portuguese economy. The objective is to investigate to what extent gender wage disparities can be explained by occupational segregation. Relying on data from the personnel records for the period 1986-2004, this study uses the Brown, Moon, and Zoloth (1989) wage differential decomposition method to conduct the empirical analysis. The main findings reveal that occupational gender segregation is not a major contributor to the male-female wage gap and that within occupational wage effects play a prominent role in determining the overall differential. Additionally, the results indicate that a substantial portion of wage differentials within occupations potentially stems from wage discrimination.

Pacific Economic Review, 2001

This paper analyses gender wage differentials and the role of occupational segregation in Hong Kong. It is found that the female±male earnings ratio increased substantially from 0.710 in 1981 to 0.839 in 1996. A decomposition which takes into account occupational differences shows that the gender pay gap is mostly within occupations and most of the intra-occupation wage gap is unexplained. The gender pay differential due to occupational differences is small; in fact, the overall occupational segregation favours females in Hong Kong.

Philippine Population Review, 2008

The tendency of men and women to work in different occupations contributes to the persisting gender wage gap. This effect is suggested to be greater at younger ages as people begin their careers. However, this has not been ascertained in the Philippines because of data paucity, particularly among the youth which account for one fifth of the country's employed population. Using 2005 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey data on 924 employed youth ages 19-21 years, we examined the: (1) extent of occupational gender segregation using the Karmel and MacLachlan index (I p); (2) demand and supply side factors associated with occupational choice; and (3) effect of segregation on wage rate. Multivariate regression and Heckman selection models were employed. Results showed that there is occupational gender segregation that is worst among rural residents and those who are still schooling. Occupational gender segregation is significantly associated with wage rate inequality, even after controlling for human capital and employment requirements.

African Journal of Business Management, 2011

The Malaysian economy has undergone dramatic changes moving from a heavy dependence on agriculture to an increasing reliance on the manufacturing and services sectors. These days, the services sector has become the most important source of Malaysian economic growth. Most subsectors in the service industries have been transforming toward more capital-intensive and knowledgebased activities that require additional skilled-labor. An increase in demand for this type of labor will subsequently raise wages. However, it is observed that because women are perceived as being less productive compared to men they are always less preferred by employers despite being equally educated. This perception of employers may not be true and, as such, bears the element of discrimination against women. This paper attempts to examine this issue using 887 executives in three selected services sectors -education, health, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)from a survey conducted in 2007/2008. They comprise 315 males and 571 females. The results show that almost all incorporated human capital variables have a significant positive effect on wages for male and female workers. These variables also play an important role in reducing gender wage differentials. However, discrimination prevails, as shown by a high percentage contribution of unexplained variables to gender wage inequality.

Topics in Middle Eastern andNorth African Economies, 2014

This paper focuses on estimating wage differences between males and females in Egypt to understand the determinants of the gender wage gap and control of this variation. The methodology of this paper is based on studying and analyzing the topic of wage differentials between males and females by using the Oaxaca decomposition technique. The data used in the analysis is obtained from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey 2006 (ELMPS 2006), which was presented by Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in cooperation with Economic Research Forum (ERF). The findings of this paper help deepen the understanding of the wage gap between males and females in Egypt by determining differences in wages due to real variations in characteristics between both genders, for example, education and experience and differences due to discrimination against women in addition to determining differences due to selectivity bias. It is estimated that, the wage gap between males and femal...

2015

This study investigates the role firm characteristics plays in explaining gender wage inequality. Prior research has mainly explored two strands to explain inequality in the labour market. The first, carried out primarily by sociologists and feminists, attempts to explain gender discrimination by showing that females are segregated into lower paying occupations while higher paying occupations are being dominated by males. This strand usually does not consider the workers’ endowment. The second strand, mainly by econo-mists, measures discrimination based on wage differentials after accounting for workers endowment. Recent evidence worldwide shows that females are outstripping males in the pursuit of higher education, suggesting that females find greater opportunities in high paying occupations. Hence, it becomes important to relook segregation using more current data. While studies have shown that firm characteristics do play a significant role in determining workers’ wages, research...