IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ris/jecdev/0048.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Accounts for Gender Income Inequality? Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Ha, Hu Van

    (University of Waikato, New Zealand and Thuongmai University, Vietnam;)

  • Doan, Tinh

    (Australian National University, Australia)

  • Holmes, Mark

    (University of Waikato, New Zealand)

Abstract

This paper examines the gender income inequality between male and female workers in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam. Using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach to a dataset obtained from a unique employee survey during the 2011-2015 period, we find that the gender income gap (7.4%) in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is smaller than the common gendered wage gap (10%) in the general workforce in Vietnam. Our results reveal that education and experience play less important roles in the workers’ earning in SMEs where education and high skills may not highly demanded. The gender wage gap is mostly unexplained by observed factors or endowments in our models. The largest part of the gendered wage gap is still mystified which may include gender discrimination that is unobservable. Overall, the gender income inequality in the sector in Vietnam is not as worse as seen in higher skilled sectors as well as in many other countries. This helps shed light on the mechanism of gender income inequality and helps policy makers to tackle the causes of income gap or inequality between sexes as well as amongst all workers. Classification-JEL: J31, J16, O15, O53

Suggested Citation

  • Ha, Hu Van & Doan, Tinh & Holmes, Mark, 2022. "What Accounts for Gender Income Inequality? Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 47(1), pages 65-84, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:jecdev:0048
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://jed.cau.ac.kr/archives/47-1/47-1-3.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Margaret Maurer-Fazio & Ngan Dinh, 2004. "Differential rewards to, and contributions of, education in urban China's segmented labor markets," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 173-189, October.
    2. Doan, Tinh & Stevens, Philip, 2011. "Labour market returns to higher education in Vietnam," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 5, pages 1-21.
    3. Pham, Thai-Hung & Reilly, Barry, 2007. "The gender pay gap in Vietnam, 1993-2002: A quantile regression approach," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 775-808, October.
    4. Wiji Arulampalam & Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2007. "Is There a Glass Ceiling over Europe? Exploring the Gender Pay Gap across the Wage Distribution," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(2), pages 163-186, January.
    5. Deshpande, Ashwini & Goel, Deepti & Khanna, Shantanu, 2018. "Bad Karma or Discrimination? Male–Female Wage Gaps Among Salaried Workers in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 331-344.
    6. Michael P. Kidd & Michael Shannon, 1996. "The Gender Wage Gap: A Comparison of Australia and Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(s1), pages 121-125, April.
    7. Nick Deschacht, 2017. "Part-Time Work and Women’s Careers: a Decomposition of the Gender Promotion Gap," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 169-186, June.
    8. Sergio Scicchitano, 2012. "The male--female pay gap across the managerial workforce in the United Kingdom: a semi-parametric decomposition approach," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(13), pages 1293-1297, September.
    9. Chen, Zhihong & Ge, Ying & Lai, Huiwen & Wan, Chi, 2013. "Globalization and Gender Wage Inequality in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 256-266.
    10. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    11. Reimer, David & Schröder, Jette, 2006. "Tracing the gender wage gap: Income differences between male and female university graduates in Germany," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 39(2), pages 235-253.
    12. Amy Liu, 2004. "Sectoral gender wage gap in Vietnam," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 225-239.
    13. Tinh Doan & Quan Le & Tuyen Quang Tran, 2018. "Lost in Transition? Declining Returns to Education in Vietnam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(2), pages 195-216, April.
    14. Jungmin Lee, 2008. "Sibling size and investment in children’s education: an asian instrument," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(4), pages 855-875, October.
    15. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    16. Tien M. Vu & Hiroyuki Yamada, 2018. "Decomposing Vietnamese gender equality in terms of wage distribution," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 705-731, December.
    17. Lucas Hernandez & Nicholas Nunn & Tonia Warnecke, 2012. "Female entrepreneurship in China: opportunity- or necessity-based?," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(4), pages 411-434.
    18. Reimer, David & Schröder, Jette, 2006. "Tracing the gender wage gap: Income differences between male and female university graduates in Germany," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 39(2), pages 235-253.
    19. Kennedy, Tom & Rae, Maria & Sheridan, Alison & Valadkhani, Abbas, 2017. "Reducing gender wage inequality increases economic prosperity for all: Insights from Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 14-24.
    20. Bernd Fitzenberger & Arnim Seidlitz, 2020. "The 2011 break in the part-time indicator and the evolution of wage inequality in Germany," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 54(1), pages 1-14, December.
    21. Holly Monti & Martha Stinson & Lori Zehr, 2020. "How Long Do Early Career Decisions Follow Women? The Impact of Employer History on the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 189-232, September.
    22. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Manisha Chakrabarty, 2008. "Does move to market have an impact on earnings gap across gender? Some evidence from India," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(8), pages 601-605.
    23. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    24. Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Ransom, Michael R., 1994. "On discrimination and the decomposition of wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 5-21, March.
    25. Jurajda, Stepan, 2003. "Gender wage gap and segregation in enterprises and the public sector in late transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 199-222, June.
    26. Shosh Shahrabani, 2007. "Sources of gender wage gap in different economic sectors: the Israeli case," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(14), pages 1019-1022.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Altantsetseg Batchuluun, 2021. "The gender wage gap in Mongolia: Sectoral segregation as a driving factor," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1437-1465, August.
    2. Hansen, Henrik & Rand, John & Win, Ngu Wah, 2022. "The gender wage gap in Myanmar: Adding insult to injury?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2016. "Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: caste gaps in earnings in Indian small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 325-346, February.
    4. Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra & Schoiswohl, Florian, 2020. "Swinging female labor demand – How the public sector influences gender wage gaps in Europe," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 302, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Briel, Stephanie, 2022. "The gender pay gap revisited: Does machine learning offer new insights?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Assaf Rotman & Hadas Mandel, 2023. "Gender-Specific Wage Structure and the Gender Wage Gap in the U.S. Labor Market," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 585-606, January.
    7. Brieland, Stephanie & Töpfer, Marina, 2020. "The gender pay gap revisited: Does machine learning offer new insights?," Discussion Papers 111, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    8. Seneviratne, Prathi, 2020. "Gender wage inequality during Sri Lanka’s post-reform growth: A distributional analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Adnan, Wifag & Miaari, Sami H., 2018. "Voting patterns and the gender wage gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 222-247.
    10. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2016. "Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: caste gaps in earnings in Indian small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 325-346, February.
    11. Collischon & Matthias, 2018. "Can Personality Traits Explain Glass Ceilings?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 965, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.
    13. Jakub Picka, 2014. "Problém "public-private pay gap" v České republice [The Public-Private Pay Gap in the Czech Republic]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(5), pages 662-682.
    14. Michaela Fuchs & Anja Rossen & Antje Weyh & Gabriele Wydra‐Somaggio, 2021. "Where do women earn more than men? Explaining regional differences in the gender pay gap," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1065-1086, November.
    15. Chen, Yiu Por (Vincent) & Zhang, Yuan, 2018. "A decomposition method on employment and wage discrimination and its application in urban China (2002–2013)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-12.
    16. Oscar Molina Tejerina & Luis Castro Peñarrieta, 2020. "Unexplained Wage Gaps in the Tradable and Nontradable Sectors: Cross-Sectional Evidence by Gender in Bolivia," Investigación & Desarrollo 0120, Universidad Privada Boliviana, revised Nov 2020.
    17. Daniela Piazzalunga & Maria Laura Di Tommaso, 2019. "The increase of the gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(2), pages 171-193, June.
    18. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis C. Carvajal-Osorio, 2020. "Two Stories of Wage Dynamics in Latin America: Different Policies, Different Outcomes," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 128-168, June.
    19. Sonja C. Kassenboehmer & Mathias G. Sinning, 2014. "Distributional Changes in the Gender Wage Gap," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 335-361, April.
    20. Deshpande, Ashwini & Goel, Deepti & Khanna, Shantanu, 2018. "Bad Karma or Discrimination? Male–Female Wage Gaps Among Salaried Workers in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 331-344.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender Income Gap; Decomposition; Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ris:jecdev:0048. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tram Nguyen (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eccaukr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.