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Gender difference of the informal sector wage gap: a longitudinal analysis for the Korean labor market

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  • Joonmo Cho
  • Donghun Cho

Abstract

Unlike previous studies focusing on either market structure or gender earning gap separately, this study considers market structure as a more crucial factor in determining the gender earning gap. The estimated wage differentials between sectors from the fixed-effects (FE) model demonstrate a substantial drop in the size of wage gaps, reflecting systematic sorting between formal and informal sectors by unobserved workers’ abilities. While estimated wage differentials from cross-sectional analysis between formal and informal sector among male workers disappear in the FE estimations, the wage gap between the formal and the informal sector among female workers still exists in the FE estimations, thus suggesting a differing dual labor market severity between gender groups. Based on these empirical results, we discuss a policy direction involving simultaneous consideration of the dual structure of the labor market and gender discrimination.

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  • Joonmo Cho & Donghun Cho, 2011. "Gender difference of the informal sector wage gap: a longitudinal analysis for the Korean labor market," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 612-629.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjapxx:v:16:y:2011:i:4:p:612-629
    DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2011.621363
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    Cited by:

    1. Joonmo Cho & Jaeseong Lee, 2015. "Persistence of the Gender Gap and Low Employment of Female Workers in a Stratified Labor Market: Evidence from South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-27, September.
    2. Christine ABLAZA & Mark WESTERN & Wojtek TOMASZEWSKI, 2021. "Good jobs and bad jobs for Indonesia's informal workers," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(1), pages 143-168, March.
    3. 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).
    4. Up Lim & Ye Choi & Heonyoung Lee, 2015. "Occupational skills and the gender wage gap in Seoul, Korea: a multilevel approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(2), pages 335-356, December.

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