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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Rajeev Pydayya

This paper aims to analyse the magnitude of the gender wage disparity in the public and private sectors in Mauritius across both mean differentials and overall wage distribution…

1422

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the magnitude of the gender wage disparity in the public and private sectors in Mauritius across both mean differentials and overall wage distribution. The paper then decomposed the gender wage differential using the Oaxaca and Blinder (1973) decomposition technique.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses cross-sectional data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Budget Survey (CMPHS), from 2006 to 2013. The sample size on average is around 12,000 households surveyed per year.

Findings

The results reveal that that gender wage differentials are prevalent in both economic sectors; however, the disparity is more pronounced in the private sector. In addition, the differences in wages are larger at the bottom compared to the top end of the wage distribution, suggesting the presence of sticky floors. Lastly, it was observed that the unexplained wage gap (discrimination) is higher in the private sector than in public sector across the years.

Originality/value

The literature on the gender wage gap in Africa is limited. This paper adds to the existing literature on gender wage differential with an analysis of the gender wage disparity across the public and private sectors in Mauritius.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Maryna Tverdostup and Tiiu Paas

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the possible reasons behind gender pay disparities, focussing on the unique features of male and female human capital and their…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the possible reasons behind gender pay disparities, focussing on the unique features of male and female human capital and their wage returns. Despite increasing convergence of male and female human capital attainments, substantial differences remain. Extraction of human capital components non-overlapping across genders provides more profound explanation of the unexplained wage gap of men and women.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting with the non-parametric matching-based decomposition technique, the authors extend the pay gap estimation framework and focus on males and females having no counterpart in a set of characteristics within the opposite gender. The authors identify gender-unique human capital in terms of differences in distribution of individual characteristics across men and women and gender-specific combination of human capital characteristics. Wage returns to gender-specific profiles are evaluated applying wage regression on both full distribution of earnings and wage quantiles. The research relies on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database for Estonia, which incorporates both formal education and cognitive skill records.

Findings

The study identifies sets of characteristics and competencies exclusive for both genders, proving that male and female profiles cannot be directly compared. The results suggest that men possess high individual and combined abilities in numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environment, not always reached by females. This potentiates men’s higher earnings in spite of their generally lower formal educational attainments. Wage gap analysis over the full distribution of earnings shows even larger “glass ceiling” effect for females, possessing woman-specific human capital.

Originality/value

The authors raise a research from a novel perspective towards a role of human capital in gender wage inequality. Instead of usual reference to observable gaps in male and female characteristics, the authors identify the gender-specific human capital profiles, to a large extent non-reached by the opposite gender. Analysed associations between gender-specific characteristics and earnings provide an insight to possible effects of gender-unique human capital on a male-female wage disparity.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2018

Reena Kumari

The purpose of this paper is to examine the themes of relationship between female labor force participation (FLFP) and economic growth, gender disparity in work participation; and…

1320

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the themes of relationship between female labor force participation (FLFP) and economic growth, gender disparity in work participation; and to identify the factors which determine females to participate in labor market. The paper uses a framework incorporating a U-shaped relationship between FLFP and economic growth, gender wise wage disparity and economic, social, cultural and other factors which affects FLFP.

Design/methodology/approach

Thematically, the selected literature falls into three main categories: the relationship between FLFP and economic growth; disparity in work participation in terms of male and female wages; and drivers or determinants of FLFP which have been described using international documents and experiences of the different countries. The review closes by identifying gaps in the existing research base and by suggesting areas for inquiry that have been untouched and warrant further research.

Findings

The key findings emerging from this examination of literature show that the FLFP rate exhibits a U-shaped during the process of economic development. Also, there are evidences of gender pay disparity across the sectors which have been justified by documenting a large number of existing literatures. Demographic factors (including fertility, migration, marriages and child care), economic factors (including unemployment, per capita income, non-farm job and infrastructure) and other explanatory variables which include the regulatory context encompassing family and childcare policies, tax regimes, and presence of subsidized health-care for workers determine the FLFP.

Practical implications

This paper suggests that in order to bring equality in gender pay gap, there is a requirement of replacing the traditional value system. There is need to provide an environment in which women are encouraged and supported in their efforts, in which women have equitable access to resources and opportunities.

Social implications

This paper addresses the impact of education, culture and child care subsidies on female labor participation. They positively impact FLFP and such a link has not been sufficiently addressed in prior literature.

Originality/value

In contrast to previous studies which document a broad-based picture of female work participation, this type of research deals with the link between economic growth and female labor participation, gender wage disparity and determinants of it which has been largely unexplored so far.

Details

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-5961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2015

Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Rajeev Pydayya

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the gender wage differential at different points of the wage distribution. It investigates the existence of glass ceilings and sticky…

1302

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the gender wage differential at different points of the wage distribution. It investigates the existence of glass ceilings and sticky floors in the Mauritian labour market. There is no previous empirical work studying gender inequality in the labour market for the small island economy of Mauritius.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate whether wage differentials are higher at the top or bottom ends of the wage distribution, the authors examine the wage disparities across different quantiles of the wage distribution. The gender wage disparities are assessed using quantile regression and decomposition techniques at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th quantiles. Survey data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Survey from 2006 to 2013 is used.

Findings

The results reveal that sticky floors are more pronounced than glass ceilings over the years. Further, for the years 2008, 2010 and 2012, it is noted that at the 75th quantiles, the gender wage differentials started to rise showing glass ceiling effects. The combination of both sticky floors and glass ceilings are characterised by the unexplained factors providing evidence for gender discrimination in the Mauritian labour market.

Originality/value

This is the first study analysing the glass ceilings or sticky floors in the Mauritian labour market. Though the research is limited to Mauritius, the latter being a small island economy can serve as a case study for other island economies and also for the African continent.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2023

Jakub Harman and Lucia Bartůsková

The gender pay gap is a well-documented phenomenon in labor economics. Based on the 2018 Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), the authors estimate the impact of observable…

Abstract

Purpose

The gender pay gap is a well-documented phenomenon in labor economics. Based on the 2018 Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), the authors estimate the impact of observable characteristics on the gender pay gap in Visegrad Group countries and provide policy recommendations on reducing the gender pay gap.

Design/methodology/approach

The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is applied to estimate the values of explained and unexplained parts of the gender pay gap. Gender pay gap in unadjusted as well as adjusted form is estimated using data on the individual level.

Findings

The results show that unadjusted gender pay gap proved to be stable at more than 20%. The authors found evidence that education widens gender pay gap implying that men have higher returns on education than women. Tertiary education proved to be the highest contributor to widening of gender pay gap. Results also show that there is strong sectoral and occupational segregation. Decomposition proved that only 21% of gender pay gap could be explained by observed characteristics. The unexplained part showed negative values, meaning women would have higher wages, if they had characteristics like men.

Research limitations/implications

Structure of Earnings Survey data are published every four years; therefore the authors’ dataset from year 2018 might not completely reflect today's reality. Unfortunately, newer data are note available yet. Second, Structure of Earning Survey data do not contain variables representing social factors of respondents like marital status, number of children or labour market absence due to birth or childcare. Third, data used for this study do not contain firms that have less than 10 employees; therefore, considerable portion of the labour market is omitted.

Originality/value

Results of this study will help policymakers understand the roots and causes of the gender pay gap in Visegrad Group countries but addressing this issue requires further research.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 May 2024

Mainak Bhattacharjee

The context of sustainable development dwells, quite significantly, upon the one of gender parity in a society and nation. This is so because the issue of gender equality is key…

Abstract

The context of sustainable development dwells, quite significantly, upon the one of gender parity in a society and nation. This is so because the issue of gender equality is key to distributive justice, which is in turn much essential for creating a good amount of precondition for sustainable development. Academic inquests into the problem into the gender disparity are indicative of how gender disparity on economic and social parameter triggers a negative productivity change over time and space. Thus, the current chapter brings forth an analytical approach to contemplating into the above-mentioned narratives in both theoretical and empirical terms. The tack of our analysis is as follows. To begin with, this chapter develops an index to determine the extent of gender disparity in health, education and participation in workforce (namely, Gender Gap Index or GGI). Moving on, the study extends to looking at India changing dynamics on gender gap vis-à-vis developing and less-developed countries. Besides, a general equilibrium model has been developed to unfurl the fallout of gender disparity in terms of the wage gap between male and female workers in the labour force, extant and conditioned further by demographic and sociopolitical factors.

Details

International Trade, Economic Crisis and the Sustainable Development Goals
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-587-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2022

Olga Alonso-Villar and Coral del Río

This paper explores the wages of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and “other race” women and men once differences in basic characteristics among these 12 groups are…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the wages of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and “other race” women and men once differences in basic characteristics among these 12 groups are accounted for. The authors aim to extend comparisons beyond those of women and men of the same race or the various races within a given gender.

Design/methodology/approach

To undertake the conditional analysis, first, the authors propose a simple re-weighing scheme that allows to build a counterfactual economy in which workers' attributes for all gender–race/ethnicity groups are the same. Second, the authors use a well-known re-weighting scheme that involves logit estimations.

Findings

Only Hispanic men, Native American men and Asian women have conditional wages around average. Black men and, especially, White, Black, Hispanic, Native American and “other race” women have conditional wages clearly below average, whereas those of Asian and White men are well above average. The wage differential between a privileged and a deprived group is disentangled into the premium of the former and the penalty of the latter, which brings a new perspective to what has been done in the literature based on pairwise comparisons. In this intersectional framework, the authors document that gender penalizes more than race.

Originality/value

This paper examines intergroup earnings differentials using a methodology that allows to examine 12 gender–race/ethnicity groups jointly, which is this work's distinctive feature. The authors' intersectional framework allows to picture the effect of gender and race/ethnicity more broadly than what the literature has shown thus far.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 44 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 April 2023

Sarah Reibstein and Laura Hanson Schlachter

Worker cooperative practitioners and developers often claim that democratic worker ownership advances egalitarianism within and beyond the workplace, but most of the empirical…

Abstract

Purpose

Worker cooperative practitioners and developers often claim that democratic worker ownership advances egalitarianism within and beyond the workplace, but most of the empirical evidence in the USA is based on ethnographic case studies or small-scale surveys. This study aims to leverage the first national survey about individuals' experiences in these unique firms to test for the presence of inequalities by gender, race and immigration status in the broader sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a 2017 survey comprising a sample of 1,147 workers from 82 firms. This study focuses on measures of workplace benefits that capture material and psychological ownership, wealth accumulation, wages, workplace autonomy and participation in governance. This study uses ordinary least squares regression models with fixed effects alongside pooled models to determine the effects of gender, race, immigration status and the intersection of gender and race on these outcomes, both within and between firms.

Findings

This study finds no evidence of wage gaps by gender, race or immigration status within worker cooperatives, with job type, tenure and worker ownership status instead explaining within-firm variation in pay. Still, this study documents sector-wide disparities in material and non-material outcomes by gender, race and immigration status, reflecting differences in individual-level human capital and job characteristics as well as widespread occupational segregation and homophily.

Originality/value

The paper offers a novel contribution to the literature on workplace empowerment and inequality in participatory firms by analyzing race, gender and immigration status in the most robust dataset that has been collected on worker cooperatives in the USA.

Details

Journal of Participation and Employee Ownership, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-7641

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2010

Carlos Manuel Coelho Duarte, José P. Esperança, José D. Curto, Maria C. Santos and Maria Carapeto

The paper aims to investigate the existence of gender segregation and to analyse the determinants of gender income disparity in Portuguese private firms.

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to investigate the existence of gender segregation and to analyse the determinants of gender income disparity in Portuguese private firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The main research instrument is a qualitative and quantitative questionnaire with 3,906 individuals from 75 Portuguese private firms. This paper uses separate multivariate ordered tobit models for men and women.

Findings

It is found that job segregation is one of the major sources of gender inequality in the labour market but does not contribute for a considerable gender pay gap. In fact only scant and nuanced evidence of a negative gap of 2.2 percent against women is found. However, no support for the contention that women are systematically underpaid if they work in occupations where females are predominant is found. When it comes to variable pay, differences between men and women are less significant than with base pay.

Practical implications

The paper reveals that the under‐representation of women in high‐paying jobs and their over‐representation in low‐paying clerical and service occupations are key in explaining the existence of a glass ceiling. Despite that it appears wage disparity does exist, and that it will probably continue to exist, the results point towards a window of opportunity for women.

Originality/value

The paper shows that with a higher contribution of men in household and childcare activities, women will have more time and opportunity for lobbying activities, which will increase their opportunities for higher career.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Yim King Penny Wan

The aim of this paper is to examine the perceptions female casino dealers have toward gender disparity at work. In particular, the question of whether gender disparity exists, the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine the perceptions female casino dealers have toward gender disparity at work. In particular, the question of whether gender disparity exists, the nature and magnitude of differential treatment, and the effects of the perceived disparity on dealers' work attitudes are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 40 female casino dealers recruited from the six major casinos in Macao. The data were subjected to thematic content analysis.

Findings

The results indicate that female casino dealers have more advantages at work than their male counterparts. These advantages do, however, have some negative effects on the work attitudes of female casino dealers.

Research limitations/implications

The sample is limited to Macao participants and the sample size is small. Also, only female casino dealers were interviewed.

Practical implications

This study offers insights to casino operators and academics regarding the perceptions of female casino dealers toward gender disparity at work. It provides recommendations to help offset the disparity and improve female dealers' work attitudes and performance.

Originality/value

This study fills a research void in the literature. The results challenge the traditional assumption that females face more disadvantages at work than males. The study advocates the need to explore whether gender disparity differs in different work settings in order to avoid the problems of generalization and simplification.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000