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Employment, Pay and Discrimination in the Tourism Industry

Author

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  • Luís Delfim Santos

    (Faculdade de Economia and CEMPRE, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr Roberto Frias, 4200–464 Porto, Portugal)

  • José Varejão

    (Faculdade de Economia do Porto and CETE, Universidade do Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

Using a large administratively matched employer–employee data set, we analyse the gender wage gap in the Portuguese tourism labour market. As background, employment and pay in the tourism industry are thoroughly characterized. Using the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition of the gender wage gap, we find that 45% of the gap is due to differences in attributes of male and female workers in tourism. Our estimate of the coefficient of discrimination in the tourism industry (8.4%) puts it well below the non-tourism average (15.8%). We argue that this is due to the fact that minimum wage legislation provides an effective protection to low-wage earners, which is especially important in low-wage industries such as tourism.

Suggested Citation

  • Luís Delfim Santos & José Varejão, 2007. "Employment, Pay and Discrimination in the Tourism Industry," Tourism Economics, , vol. 13(2), pages 225-240, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:13:y:2007:i:2:p:225-240
    DOI: 10.5367/000000007780823186
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    Cited by:

    1. Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "A Tale of Parallel Processes of Gender (In-)Equality: How Big Is the Glass Ceilings for MENA Women?," IZA Discussion Papers 15152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Azzurra Rinaldi & Irene Salerno, 2020. "The tourism gender gap and its potential impact on the development of the emerging countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 54(5), pages 1465-1477, December.
    3. Santero-Sanchez, Rosa & Segovia-Pérez, Mónica & Castro-Nuñez, Belen & Figueroa-Domecq, Cristina & Talón-Ballestero, Pilar, 2015. "Gender differences in the hospitality industry: A Job quality index," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 234-246.
    4. Campos-Soria, Juan Antonio & Ortega Aguaza, Bienvenido & Ropero-García, Miguel Ángel, 2010. "Diferentes patrones de segregación género y diferencia salarial entre hombres y mujeres en la hostelería/Different Patterns of Gender Segregation and Wage Gap Between Men and Women in Hospitality Sect," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 28, pages 197(30á)-19, Abril.
    5. Natalia Porto & Natalia Espinola & Laura Carella, 2020. "Income inequality, tourism and resources endowment in Uruguay: a spatial and distributional approach," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4393, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    6. Anil Bolukoglu & Tugce Gozukucuk, 2024. "Tourism development and women employment: A study on the European union countries," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(2), pages 442-456, March.
    7. Muñoz-Bullón, Fernando, 2008. "The gap between male and female pay in the Spanish tourism industry," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb085713, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour market; gender discrimination; gender wage gap; Portugal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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