Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/65420 
Year of Publication: 
2002
Series/Report no.: 
CREDIT Research Paper No. 02/18
Publisher: 
The University of Nottingham, Centre for Research in Economic Development and International Trade (CREDIT), Nottingham
Abstract: 
This paper uses data on individual earnings in manufacturing industry for five African countries in the early 1990s to test whether firms located in the capital city pay higher earnings than do firms located elsewhere, and whether such benefits accrue to all or only certain types of workers. Earnings equations are estimated that take into account worker characteristics (education and tenure) and relevant firm characteristics (notably size and whether owned by a foreigner). Any location effect identified is therefore additional to appropriate control variables. There are two main findings. First, we find evidence of a 'capital city premium' that varies between 12% and 28% in the five countries. This location premium does not always exceed plausible consumer price differentials, between the capital and other areas, and therefore does not demonstrate that real (purchasing power) manufacturing wages are higher in the capital city. This suggests that spatial inequality in real earnings is unlikely to be significant for manufacturing employees. Secondly, while we find that skilled workers earn a higher wage premium in the capital city than less skilled workers, this is not because of location effects on earnings per se, but rather because of other firm characteristics of firms located in the capital city such as size and foreign ownership. This suggests that spatial inequality in itself does not directly contribute to skilled/less-skilled wage differentials in manufacturing.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
207.39 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.