Female Wage Inequality in Latin American Labor Markets

Saavedra, Luz A.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AGE GROUPS;    AGED;    AGGREGATE DEMAND;    ALTERNATIVE USE;    BANKING LAW;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2741
RP-ID  :  WPS2741

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The author uses quantile regression todocument the evolution of the earnings structure of salariedand self-employed female workers in urban areas in threeLatin American countries-Argentina, Brazil, and CostaRica-after structural reforms were introduced. The analysiscovers pre- and post-reform years: in Argentina, 1988 and1997, and in Brazil and Costa Rica, 1989 and 1995. Fourprimary results emerge from the analysis: 1) After othercharacteristics are controlled for, wage premiums to humancapital, labor experience, and other characteristics varyalong the conditional distribution. This indicates that ahomoscedastic model is not suitable for analyzing wagedifferentials among working women in these countries. 2)Wage inequality among women fell in the self-employmentsector in all three countries. In the salaried sectorresults were mixed, with wage inequality declining inArgentina but increasing slightly in Costa Rica. 3) Thedecline in female wage inequality can be explained in partby changes in the premium to education. Results indicatethat the relative premium to education fell in Argentina andBrazil-that is, the adjusted wage differential between moreeducated and less educated women decreased between thesampled years in these countries. In contrast, wagedifferentials arising from education increased in CostaRica. 4) Women earning less than their characteristics wouldpredict seemed to fare well with the economic opening:domestic workers, nonwhite workers, and the least educatedin the lower quantiles saw their wage premiums increaserelative to those of the control groups. These results areconsistent with the predictions of the Heckscher-Ohlintheory of trade liberalization: those with less humancapital saw wage gains relative to those with more human capital.