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The role of market access and human capital in regional wage disparities: Empirical evidence for Ecuador

Author

Listed:
  • Rafael Alvarado

    (Departamento de Economía, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador)

  • Miguel Atienza

    (Departamento de Economía, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile)

Abstract

This article examines the effect of market access and human capital on regional wage disparities in Ecuador using the wage equation of the core-periphery model of the New Economic Geography and a multi-level model. Our results, based on cross sectional data, suggest that market access has a positive and statistically significant effect on wages, although this effect is relatively small. Only a small degree of regional wage variation can be attributed to the effect of market size, while the composition of the labor force explains a significant part of the reduction of regional wage disparities. Consequently, efforts to reduce the unequal spatial distribution of human capital can contribute to the reduction of regional income disparity

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Alvarado & Miguel Atienza, 2014. "The role of market access and human capital in regional wage disparities: Empirical evidence for Ecuador," Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional 50, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:cat:dtecon:dt201404
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    Cited by:

    1. Viviana HUACHIZACA & Rafael ALVARADO, 2018. "Especialización, Diversificación Y Localización Sectorial En Ecuador Y Su Incidencia En El Ingreso Regional," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 18(1), pages 65-80.
    2. Stuart Donovan & Thomas de Graaff & Henri L. F. de Groot & Carl C. Koopmans, 2024. "Unraveling urban advantages—A meta‐analysis of agglomeration economies," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 168-200, February.
    3. Priscila MÉNDEZ & Sheila GUARNIZO & Rafael ALVARADO, 2019. "Nexo Causal Entre La Urbanización Y La Producción Regional: Evidencia Para Ecuador Usando Vi En Econometría Espacial," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 19(1), pages 63-76.
    4. Ponce, Pablo & Alvarado, Rafael & Ponce, Katerine & Alvarado, Raquel & Granda, Danny & Yaguana, Karen, 2019. "Green returns of labor income and human capital: Empirical evidence of the environmental behavior of households in developing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 105-113.
    5. Burhan Can Karahasan & Fırat Bilgel, 2020. "Market access and regional dispersion of human capital accumulation in Turkey," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 1073-1101, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market access; human capita; wages; NEG; multilevel regression; Ecuador;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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