Desigualdad salarial en Argentina. Una interpretaciòn con base en calificaciones ocupacionales[Wage inequality in Argentina. An interpretation based on occupational skills]

In this article we propose to examine what role workers' skills played in Argentina's wage inequality, considering an analytical framework that defines them not only through education but mainly through the occupational dimension, both for the total number of workers as well as for each gender in particular. To achieve this, we employ a quantile regression technique on wage equations for the years 2004, 2009 and 2014. The findings reveal a fall in gaps between skill premiums, combined with lower levels of inequality within these categories. This is linked to lower returns to education at higher wage levels. Both effects combined confirm the hypothesis that labor qualifications are directly associated with wage inequality, and show that in this period a mitigation of inequalities in the wage market is achieved thanks to a better relative position of workers with operative skills, in relation to technicians and professionals