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Gender Wage Discrimination in Rural and Urban Labour Markets of Bangladesh

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  • Salma Ahmed
  • Pushkar Maitra

Abstract

Female wages in Bangladesh are significantly lower than male wages. This paper quantifies the extent to which discrimination can explain this gender wage gap across the rural and urban labour markets of Bangladesh, using unit record data from the 1999-2000 Labour Force Survey. The gender wage differential is decomposed into a component that can be explained by differences in productive characteristics and a component not explained by observable productive differences, which is attributed to discrimination. An attempt is also made to improve on the standard methodology by implementing a wage-gap decomposition method that accounts for selectivity bias, on top of the usual “explained” and “unexplained” components. Analytical results from this paper show that gender wage differentials are considerably larger in urban areas than in rural areas and a significant portion of this wage differential can be attributed to discrimination against women. The results also show that selectivity bias is an important component of total discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Salma Ahmed & Pushkar Maitra, 2010. "Gender Wage Discrimination in Rural and Urban Labour Markets of Bangladesh," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 83-112.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:38:y:2010:i:1:p:83-112
    DOI: 10.1080/13600810903551611
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stepan Jurajda, 2000. "Gender Wage Gap and Segregation in Late Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 306, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    2. Kapsos, Steven., 2008. "The gender wage gap in Bangladesh," ILO Working Papers 994134173402676, International Labour Organization.
    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:413417 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Tanvir Pavel & Syed Hasan & Nafisa Halim & Pallab Mozumder, 2018. "Natural Hazards and Internal Migration: The Role of Transient versus Permanent Shocks," Working Papers 1806, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    2. Avinno Faruk, 2021. "Analysing the glass ceiling and sticky floor effects in Bangladesh: evidence, extent and elements," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(9), pages 1-23, September.
    3. Daudu Abdulrazaq K. & Kareem Oyedola W. & Olatinwo Latifat K. & Shuaib Suleiman B. & Abdulrahman Abdulganiyu I., 2023. "Does Gender Wage Gap Exist among Farm Workers in Nigeria? Evidence from Decomposition-Matching Analysis," Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 115-137, October.
    4. Salma Ahmed & Pushkar Maitra, 2015. "A Distributional Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(11), pages 1444-1458, November.
    5. Nordman, Christophe Jalil & Sarr, Leopold & Sharma, Smriti, 2015. "Cognitive, Non-Cognitive Skills and Gender Wage Gaps: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data in Bangladesh," IZA Discussion Papers 9132, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Danquah, Michael & Iddrisu, Abdul Malik & Boakye, Ernest Owusu & Owusu, Solomon, 2021. "Do gender wage differences within households influence women's empowerment and welfare? Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 916-932.
    7. Mustafizur Rahman & Md. Al-Hasan, 2019. "Male–Female Wage Gap and Informal Employment in Bangladesh: A Quantile Regression Approach," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 20(1), pages 106-123, March.
    8. repec:ilo:ilowps:483489 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. McIntyre, Lynn & Rondeau, Krista & Kirkpatrick, Sharon & Hatfield, Jennifer & Islam, Khaled Shamsul & Huda, Syed Nazmul, 2011. "Food provisioning experiences of ultra poor female heads of household living in Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 969-976, March.
    10. Paez, Gustavo Nicolas & Tin, Myat Su, 2021. "Gender-based differences in Myanmar’s labor force," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    11. Ahmed, Salma & McGillivray, Mark, 2015. "Human Capital, Discrimination, and the Gender Wage Gap in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 506-524.
    12. Mohamed Saalim & Sobin George, 2021. "Determinants of Wage Differentials Among In-Migrant Workers: Insights from a Primary Study Conducted in Kozhikode District, Kerala, India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(4), pages 981-997, December.
    13. Rahman, Rushidan I. & Islam, Rizwanul., 2013. "Female labour force participation in Bangladesh : trends, drivers and barriers," ILO Working Papers 994834893402676, International Labour Organization.
    14. Ahmed, Salma & Feeny, Simon & Posso, Alberto, 2015. "What firm characteristics determine women’s employment in manufacturing? Evidence from Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 84492, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Olgica Bošković & Nikola Njegovan, 2012. "Gender Inequality In The Labour Market In Serbia," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(192), pages 113-136, January –.
    16. World Bank, 2016. "Bangladesh Social Protection and Labor Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 25265, The World Bank Group.
    17. Mumita Tanjeela & Shannon Rutherford, 2018. "The Influence of Gender Relations on Women’s Involvement and Experience in Climate Change Adaptation Programs in Bangladesh," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(4), pages 21582440188, November.
    18. Ahmed, Salma, 2015. "Dynamics and diversity: How are religious minorities faring in the labour Market in Bangladesh?," MPRA Paper 75153, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 18 Nov 2016.
    19. Rahman, Mustafizur & Al-Hasan, Md., 2018. "Male-Female wage gap and informal employment in Bangladesh: A quantile regression approach," MPRA Paper 90131, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Zhou, Mo & Nelson, Robert, 2017. "Gender Wage Gap and Discrimination in Developing Countries," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 252727, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.

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