Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/89181
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-111
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC
Abstract: 
This paper compares gender wage gaps for Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s using the non-parametric matching methodology introduced by Ñopo (2008), which allows an analysis not only of average gaps but also their distributions. While a simple comparison of average wages would suggest small or even negative gaps, the wage gap is substantial when workers with comparable human capital characteristics are considered. Although the gender wage gap declined from the mid-1990s to 2000, the gap appears to increase thereafter. The results also indicate that females have access barriers to certain human capital profiles, which contributes to wage gaps. The unexplained component of the gender wage gaps is more pronounced among poorer individuals. In Nicaragua, particularly, these unexplained gaps are negative for those at the lowest extreme of the earnings distribution.
Subjects: 
Gender
Race
Wage gaps
Central America
JEL: 
C14
D31
J16
O54
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
248.71 kB





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