Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/89150
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-109
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC
Abstract: 
This paper surveys gender and ethnic wage gaps in 18 Latin American countries, decomposing differences using matching comparisons as a non-parametric alternative to the Blinder-Oaxaca (BO) decomposition. It is found that men earn 9-27 percent more than women, with high cross-country heterogeneity. The unexplained pay gap is higher among older, informal and self-employed workers and those in small firms. Ethnic wage differences are greater than gender differences, and educational attainment differentials play an important role in explaining the gap. Higher ethnic wage gaps are found among males, singleincome generators of households and full-time workers, and in rural areas. An important share of the ethnic wage gap is due to the scarcity of minorities in highpaid positions.
Subjects: 
gender
ethnicity
wage gaps
Latin America
matching
JEL: 
C14
D31
J16
O54
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
677.98 kB





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