Occupational Segregation and Gender Wage Differentials: Evidence from Malaysia

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.     

Racial Inequality and Segregation Measures: Some Evidence from the 2000 Census

How much of the observed segregation between black and white Americans can be attributed to income disparities between the two groups? We adopt an approach to the decomposition of segregation measures that combines the method of indirect standardization with the idea that some degree of segregation is the outcome of purely random processes. Using the dissimilarity index as a measure of segregation and data on race and income from US metropolitan areas for 2000, we find that the role played by racial income inequality in accounting for segregation is modest but varies significantly across cities.     

国内外工资差别研究述评

工资差别按照形成原因可归结为两种:市场性工资差别和非市场性工资差别。前者包括人力资本补偿性工资差别以及行业工资差别,后者包括歧视性工资差别和制度性工资差别。本文通过总结国内外这几类工资差别的研究进展情况,得出结论:我国的竞争性工资差别小于其他国家,由劳动力市场分割导致的垄断性工资差别是我国工资差别的主要形成原因。调节工资差别的关键是培育其市场形成机制。     

制造业的生产分割与工资收入差距:16个行业证据

利用1995～2007年中国16个制造行业的数据,并运用动态面板数据模型来探讨影响中国行业内工资收入差距的原因。研究发现,在国际生产分割条件下,中国制造业企业大量进口中间产品,利用相对低廉的劳动力进行加工和组装,并最终出口到发达国家。在这个过程中企业偏好高技能的劳动力,相应地,高技能劳动力工资收入比低技能劳动力增长的更快,国际生产分割扩大了行业内工资收入差距。企业的研发活动增加了高技能劳动力相对需求,对行业内工资收入差距扩大也有显著的正向影响,而且影响程度要高于其他因素。     

The Wage Elasticity of Labour Supply: A Synthesis of Empirical Estimates

Summary This paper performs a meta-analysis of empirical estimates of uncompensated labour supply elasticities. For the Netherlands, we find that an elasticity of 0.5 for women and 0.1 for men is a good reflection of what the literature reveals. The elasticity for men hardly differs between countries, but for women some cross-country variation is found. The increasing participation rate of women may lead to a somewhat lower elasticity in the future. Both the specification of the hours function and the estimation method are found to affect elasticity estimates.      

Gender Discrimination and Worker Selectivity: A Comparison of the Self-employed and Wage Earners

This study compares the size and nature of the gender earnings differentials for the self-employed and wage earners in Korea, taking into account the workers’ self-selection of each employment type. The two-stage estimates of the earnings equation, corrected for worker selectivity, are used to decompose the gender earnings differentials into productivity-related and discriminatory factors. Our results suggest that the size of the gender earnings gap is larger in the wage sector than in the self-employment sector, but not by large margin, and so is the discrimination effect when not controlled for worker selectivity. With worker selectivity controlled, the discrimination effect is greatly intensified in the wage sector, while it becomes not significant in the self-employment sector. These findings imply that the observed gender earnings gap in the wage sector is largely ascribed to discrimination against women, while the gender earnings gap in the self-employment sector is mostly due to productivity difference that, in part, is caused by worker selectivity.     

Global Outsourcing and Wage Inequality in Middle-Income Countries: Evidence from South Korea

A substantial number of studies have suggested that global outsourcing can induce wage inequality. As Feenstra and Hanson [(1996a) Foreign investment, outsourcing, and relative wage, in: R. C. Feestra, G. M. Hanson, and D. A. Irwin (Eds.) Political Economy of Trade Policy: Essays in Honor of Jagdish Bhagwati (Cambridge: The MIT Press), pp. 89–127] argued, global outsourcing is comparable to skill-biased technological change in that global outsourcing is more likely to increase the wage of skilled workers rather than their unskilled counterparts. We examine the effects of outsourcing on wage of skilled and unskilled workers in Korea's manufacturing sector with a focus on the dissimilar effects of outsourcing to developed countries (DCs) and less developed countries (LDCs) on relative wage. The results of system and difference GMM estimation based on manufacturing data from 1992 to 2006 indicate that outsourcing to DCs and LDCs have opposite (and significant) effects on relative wage, that is, outsourcing to DCs (LDCs) decreases the wage of skilled (unskilled) workers.     

Gender, poverty and deprivation: Evidence from the Republic of Guinea

The article examines the relationship between gender and consumption poverty and between gender and deprivation in the Republic of Guinea. National household survey data reveal that women are not more likely than men to be consumption poor or to suffer greater consumption poverty. Participatory Poverty Assessment data from the village of Kamatiguia reveal that women are “worse off” than men when deprivation includes, inter alia, excessive work load and reduced decision-making authority. When consumption poverty poorly correlates with other dimensions of deprivation, it should not be the sole guide for equity-based policy intervention.     

上海市最低工资标准的合理性——基于最低工资收入者角度的实证分析

最低工资制度是世界各国普遍采用的劳动保障制度,其目的在于维护劳动者取得劳动报酬的合法权利,保障劳动者尤其是低收入劳动者及其家庭成员的基本生活。文章依据相关法规政策规定的最低工资标准制定时需要考虑的因素,从保障低收入劳动者基本生活需要的角度,应用统计性描述方法对1993-2012年上海市最低工资与职工平均工资、人均GDP、最低社会保障线、人均消费性支出等进行分析。分析结果发现上海市最低工资与职工月平均工资的比远低于40%~60%的国际标准,与人均GDP的比值低于全国平均水平,表明上海市最低工资标准偏低,需要进一步改进或完善相关政策。     

性别工资差别与人力资本--来自大学毕业生的经验分析

在劳动力市场上 ,雇主歧视、人力资本的初始点和积累不同等原因都会导致性别工资差别。本文对上海市两所大学毕业生的能力培养和毕业后的两期收入作了实证研究。我们分析了毕业生的性别和人力资本差异对工资水平的影响 ,计量分析还发现在控制了其他因素后 ,大学里女性对自身学习能力的培养普遍高于男性 ,但是在劳动力市场上女性的工资仍然要低于男性 ,这种工资差别随工作年限的增长在扩大     

Export Activity,Firm Size and Wage Structure: Evidence from Taiwanese Manufacturing Firms*

This study adopts a semiparametric smooth coefficient model to evaluate the export–wage premiums, firm size–wage premiums, and the wage gap between skilled and unskilled labor. Particular focus is placed upon widespread evidence indicating that pay levels in ‘large’ and ‘export‐oriented’ firms are higher than in their ‘small’ and ‘domestic‐oriented’ counterparts. Applying the firm‐level data for Taiwanese manufacturing firms, we find a positive export–wage premium for skilled workers and a negative export–wage premium for unskilled workers. The hypothesis of a constant export premium across firm size is rejected. While most of the export–wage premiums for skilled labor can be attributed to the small and medium firms, the large exporting firms have a significant adverse effect on wages for unskilled labor. Moreover, our results suggest that the firm size–wage premiums for skilled workers are larger than those for unskilled workers. The wage gap between the two skill groups is also sensitive to size categories.     

美国最低工资制度的发展及启示

美国最低工资有联邦与州之分.由于适用普遍性与合理工资水平之间的内在紧张难以消除,最低工资呈向下发展趋势.为了补足最低工资的低水平,20世纪90年代,一些地方政府启动了生活工资立法,形成新的最低工资形式.我国最低工资实施的背景与美国有相似之处,可考虑借鉴其经验,构建多元最低工资结构,这种多元结构应建立在劳动者“参与中心型”的立法机制之上.     

最低工资制度的执行力度和影响因素研究——以农村转移劳动力为例

文章利用2011年浙江省杭州市最低工资标准调整的契机,调查分析了新的工资标准实施前后最低工资制度在农村转移劳动力中的执行力度及其影响因素。研究发现,工资标准的提高使农村转移劳动力的最低工资标准执行力度由原先的80%降低到70%左右;最低工资制度在提升劳动者收入上发挥了一些效果。研究显示,企业性质、企业规模和企业所处的地理位置均是影响最低工资制度执行力度的因素;劳动者的人力资本水平也是影响执行力度的重要因素。文章认为,当前的最低工资制度存在着工资标准过低和执行力度不足的问题,大幅度削弱了该政策提升劳动者工资的作用。     

澳大利亚最低工资制度的实施情况及对我国经验借鉴

澳大利亚是最早实行最低工资制度的国家之一。自1904年建立最低工资制度以来,先后经历了多次改革,其涵盖范围广、制定程序严密、设定标准高、法律制度健全,对社会发展产生了积极的效应。为进一步完善我国最低工资制度,文章建议应借鉴澳大利亚的经验,统一最低工资标准的内涵、明确最低工资标准的调整频度、提高立法层次并健全最低工资制度的监管体系,以促进我国最低工资制度的健康发展。