New evidence on public sector wage differentials

This paper examines the nature of wage differentials for men and women in the public sector, using a sample selection approach. This includes the self-selection that occurs in the sectoral choice process as well as the selection that arises in context of the labour force participation decision of men and women. Using 1991 Current population Survey data, it is found that male workers in the public sector on an average earn higher wages than male private sector workers, whereas the wage premium earned by women is undermined by a slightly greater degree of discrimination in the public sector     

Government employment and the provision of fringe benefits

This study uses individual level data from the United States to examine the influence of government employment on the provision of five major fringe benefits. Four of the five benefits are more likely to be provided to government workers than to their private sector counterparts. Unlike wage comparisons which typically find substantial overpayment only for federal workers, the findings suggest that past wage differentials underestimate the true compensation advantage enjoyed by government workers.     

Public–Private Sector Wage Differentials in Australia

This paper examines public–private sector wage differentials in Australia. After controlling for observed characteristics and individual fixed effects, we show that on average workers in the public sector earn about 5.1 per cent more in hourly wages than those in the private sector. The wage premium is slightly higher for females than males. Using a panel data quantile regression model with fixed effects, we show that the positive wage effects of public sector employment are heterogeneous, with comparatively larger impact at the lower end of the wage distribution than at other parts. We also find evidence of heterogeneity in the public sector wage premiums by qualification, time period, occupation and state/territory.     

Discrimination against Migrants in Urban Vietnam

In 2009, migrant workers in the two major cities of Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, earned 42% less per hour than did non-migrant (“resident”) workers. We seek to explain this gap using data from a carefully-designed urban poverty survey undertaken in 2009 by the General Statistics Office. We use the method proposed by Brown, Moon, and Zoloth, which first explains how workers sort into different sectors, and then examines wage differentials using a Blinder-Oaxaca style decomposition. About half of the wage gap may be explained by endowments. The system of residential permits (ho khau) may contribute to the difficulties faced by migrants. Our results are broadly similar to, although more stable and plausible than, those found for the major cities in China.     

Human capital and the re‐employment of retrenchment labor in urban China

The inefficiency of state‐owned enterprises, followed by the economic reform in urban China, resulted in large‐scale retrenchment during the late1990s. The laid‐off workers were middle‐aged, not well educated and had accumulated a lot of firm‐specific human capital that was unlikely to be of value in the product market. In this study, we investigate how differently human capital affects laid‐off workers’ occupation choices: self‐employment, re‐employment and remaining unemployed. Using 2002 Chinese Household Income Project and 2009 Urban Household Survey datasets, we find that although general human capital measured by education is positively related to the probability of finding a job, it is negatively associated with the probability of self‐employment. Displaced workers with more sector‐specific work experience are more likely to be self‐employed than to be employed by others. Government‐sponsored training significantly increases the likelihood of finding a job. Health is positively associated with re‐employment.     

Wage Bargaining,Privatisation, Ability to Pay and Outside Options: Evidence from Hungary

This article examines the determinants of short-term wage dynamics, using a sample of large Hungarian companies for 1996–99. We test the basic implications of an efficient contract model of bargaining between incumbent employees and managers, which the data do not reject. In particular, there are structural differences between the ownership sectors consistent with our prior knowledge on relative bargaining strength and unionisation measures. Stronger bargaining position of workers leads to higher ability to pay elasticity of wages, and lower outside option elasticity. Our results indicate that while bargaining position of workers in domestic privatised firms may be weaker than in the state sector, the more robust difference relates to state sector workers versus privatised firms with majority foreign ownership.     

Labor market dynamics in urban China and the role of the state sector

This paper studies the effect of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on the dynamics of the Chinese urban labor market. Using longitudinally matched monthly panel data, we document very low labor force dynamics in the state sector, which leads to a high long-term unemployment rate. We develop and estimate an equilibrium search and matching model with three differences between the state and non-state sectors: labor productivity, labor adjustment cost, and workers’ bargaining power. Counterfactual analysis shows that, among the three channels, reducing the bargaining power of state sector workers is most effective in reducing unemployment duration and unemployment rate.     

COMPARING FEDERAL AND PRIVATE‐SECTOR WAGES WITHOUT LOGS

I use Current Population Survey data from 2005 through 2010 to compare the wages of federal employees and workers in the private sector who have similar observable characteristics. The distribution of wages differed drastically between the federal and private sectors. In particular, I find that federal employees with no more than a high school diploma earned 21% more, on average, than their private‐sector counterparts, whereas those with a professional degree or doctorate earned 23% less. Overall, the average of federal wages was about 2% higher than the average wage of similar private‐sector workers. Other researchers have found larger differences because they used log‐linearized models, which result in comparisons of geometric means. I show that arithmetic means are more relevant in the context of the relationship between a government's compensation policy and its budget. The discrepancy between differences in arithmetic and geometric means occurs because the wages of federal employees were much less dispersed than those of employees with similar characteristics in the private sector. (JEL J31, J38, J45)     

中国劳资关系的城乡户籍差异

本文利用最近的企业和农民工调查数据探讨了劳资关系城乡户籍差异问题。城乡工人在劳资关系各方面的巨大差异源于两个方面 :一是人力资本水平差异和就业企业的差异 ;二是农民工受到的户籍歧视。研究结果发现 ,前者解释了两类工人劳资关系差异的 70 %— 80 % ,说明人力资本和企业状况是决定工人待遇的主要因素 ;后者解释了两类工人劳资关系差异的 2 0 %— 3 0 % ,户籍歧视所造成的差距同样是不容忽视的。除劳动合同方面外 ,农民工在工资、养老保险、医疗保险、失业保险以及工会参与等方面均遭到户籍歧视。研究结果暗示仅仅关注工资收入的城乡歧视是不够的 ,同时也为更全面的劳动力市场校正政策提供了经验支持     

Male–female wage discrimination in Chinese industryInvestigation using firm‐level data1

We use firm‐level data to analyze male–female wage discrimination in China's industry. We find that there is a significant negative association between wages and the share of female workers in a firm's labour force. However, we also find that the marginal productivity of female workers is significantly lower than that of male workers. Comparing wage gaps and productivity gaps between men and women, we notice an intriguing contrast between state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and private firms. The wage gap is smaller than the productivity gap in SOEs, while the converse is true for private firms. These results suggest that women in the state sector receive wage premiums, whereas women in the private sector face wage discrimination.     

Wage differentials by sector and gender: a quantile analysis for the Spanish case

This paper analyses existing wage differentials between workers in the public and private sectors and by gender in Spain. This analysis is run throughout the entire earnings distribution and observed wage differentials are decomposed into a part explained by differences in productive characteristics and a part due to differences in returns to such characteristics. Our results show that public sector workers tend to earn higher wages than private employees, although most of this sector wage gap is due to better public workers’ productive characteristics. A wage premium in favour of men is also found in both the public and private sectors, with the gender wage gap greater at the top of the earnings distribution.     

中国城镇不同所有制企业职工收入差距的变化趋势

本文利用最新发布的CHIP-2007和CHIP-2002分析了2002年到2007年中国城镇不同所有制企业职工收入差距的变化趋势。我们发现这段时期不同所有制企业的收入差距正在减小,且这种收敛的趋势更有利于非国有企业职工,这与1995年到2002年的变化趋势形成鲜明对比。当我们分解收入差距时,发现个体的特征或能力的差别对于解释收入差距的重要性在显著提高。此外,市场分割对于不同所有制的企业仍然存在,特别对于高收入群体,但有逐步缩小的趋势。     

Ownership and earnings inequality in urban China

Along with advances in urban state-owned enterprise reform, fast growth of private sector and changes in the wage structure, earnings inequality in urban China has been increasing. Using data from the 1988 and 2007 waves of the urban household survey conducted by China Household Income Project, this paper attempts to examine the impact of the change in ownership structure on earnings distribution in urban China. We find that developing non-state-owned enterprises (nonSOEs) or privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) enlarge earnings inequality, but the difference in earnings level between the two sectors is small. Although workers in SOEs receive higher income than in nonSOEs, the difference is more caused by endowment difference rather than coefficient differences. Introducing market power to wage determination system is more influential to the rising earnings inequality which leads more rewards on working experience and educational attainment.     

中国城镇就业所有制结构的演变：1988-2000年

改革以来，国有部门在城镇就业中所占的比重有了大幅度下降，但在持有本地城市户口的居民中，国有部门就业的比重一直比较高。我们把职工在国有部门就业分解为两方面选择的结果，一个是职工对国有部门的偏好，另一个是国有部门的准入。使用1988年到2000年中国城镇居民住户调查6省的数据，我们联立地估计了这两方面的行为。估计结果表明，在20世纪90年代。城市居民对国有部门的偏好有所降低，但是平均而言仍然保持比较高的水平，国有部门的准入限制在20世纪90年代初期有一定程度的放松，虽然在90年代中期职工大规模下岗期间，这种趋势有些反复，但是下岗高峰期过后，国有部门又放松了准入。在90年代初期国有部门就业比例的上升，主要是国有部门准入放松的结果,在90年代后期国有部门就业比例的下降，则主要是居民对国有部门偏好有所下降的结果。进一步地对工资部门差别的分析，发现国有部门的工资持续地高于非国有部门的工资，这在一定程度上解释了90年代城镇居民与国有部门之间粘连的原因。本文的发现说明，降低国有部门的工资升水，可以使国有部门的改革更加顺利。     

Wage differentials and state‐private sector employment choice in Yugoslavia*

In this study we use the newly available Yugoslavian Labor Force Survey data to investigate wage differentials and employment decisions in the state and private sectors in Yugoslavia. For the analysis we use three empirical models that rely on different statistical assumptions. We extend the standard switching regression model to allow non‐normality in the joint distribution of the error terms. After correcting for the sector selection bias and controlling for workers’ characteristics we find a private sector wage advantage. The wage premium is largest for workers with low education levels and declining for workers with higher educational levels. Given the regulatory and tax policies that pushed the private sector into the informal sphere of the economy during the period covered by our data, we argue that the state/private wage gap is likely to grow in the future. This will make it increasingly difficult for the state sector to attract and retain highly skilled employees.     

Occupational attainment and stratification in China: The interactive effects of social networks and the hukou system

This paper examines the effects of social networks and hukou status on worker’s occupational attainment in China. To identify the potential ranking of different occupations, we consider the use of the stereotype ordered regression model to estimate individual occupational choice. Our results show that social networks play different roles in shaping occupational outcomes for urban and rural workers. In particular, friendship ties significantly improve urban workers’ opportunities in obtaining higher‐ranked occupations; in contrast, kinship ties appear to be more influential for rural migrants, but the effects are limited to the attainment of lower‐ranked occupations. While social contacts from government organizations or state‐owned sectors facilitate urban workers’ attainment of higher‐ranked occupations, similar patterns are not observed among rural workers. We further find that the beneficial effects of social networks or urban hukou identity are stronger for workers who are from less‐developed regions, who work in state‐owned enterprises, or who have a college degree. Decomposition of the wage gap between urban and rural workers suggests that differences in social networks and occupation types, together with hukou discrimination, account for the majority of the current wage inequality.     

中国省会城市工资溢价研究——基于分位数回归的空间计量分析

文章利用2000-2006年中国营养与健康调查数据,从微观层面对中国省会与非省会城市之间的工资溢价效应进行研究.借助OLS基准模型发现,具有相似特征的工人,在省会城市工作获得的工资比在非省会城市平均高出14%.运用MundlakChamberlain随机效应模型,控制城市的生活成本,上述省会城市的工资溢价至少减少至7%,因此省会城市的工资溢价部分体现为对较高水平人力资本的回报.余下的工资溢价随着模型加入通勤时间而消失,这一结果和城市经济学空间均衡理论的预测相一致,并确定了省会城市聚集经济效应的存在.考虑到我国近年来工资收入差距的扩大,文章将研究扩展到工资分位数的研究,处于较高工资区间的工人明显享受到更多省会城市带来的优势.这些结果突出了城市劳动力市场微观层面研究的重要性.     

Differential rewards to, and contributions of, education in urban China's segmented labor markets

Abstract. Using worker data from a 1999–2000 urban enterprise survey, we examine the effects of education on the current earnings of continuously employed urban workers, migrants and laid off but subsequently re‐employed workers. We also decompose the earnings differentials between each of these groups of workers and then assess the contribution of education to explanations of the differentials. The empirical results demonstrate that returns to education increase with marketization and competition in the workplace. We also find educational attainment to be an important explanator of the earnings differentials between institutionally differentiated groups of workers in China's urban labor markets.     

劳动力市场的所有制分割与城乡收入差距

目前缺少系统的农民工工资的面板数据妨碍了对城镇劳动力市场的所有制分割如何影响城乡收入差距的研究。本文证明城镇集体经济部门的平均工资可以作为农民工工资的代理变量,并将城镇国有部门的平均工资与集体部门的平均工资的比例作为衡量城镇劳动力市场所有制分割的指标。笔者通过对中国1978—2008年间省际面板数据的回归分析发现,劳动力市场的所有制分割本身具有扩大城乡收入差距的效应,但是,非国有部门职工比重的增加会削弱所有制分割的影响,从而有助于缩小城乡收入差距。     

Another look at mass migration and unions in Western Europe

The paper analyses implications of unions' strategy for employment in western European countries that are baffled with mass migration of unskilled workers from neighboring poor countries. Unions' strategy in this paper includes bargaining for non-wage benefits together with monetary compensation for workers. It is shown that unions' strategy generates employment, raises the ratio of skilled to unskilled workers and raises national income. This suggests that even when migration acts as a competitive fringe, instead of using controversial migration policy as a covert anti-union tool, policy makers should encourage this type of bargaining which will have both economically and politically favorable effects.