This paper compares gender wage gaps for Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s using the non-parametric matching methodology introduced by Ñopo (2008), which allows an analysis not only of average gaps but also their distributions. While a simple comparison of average wages would suggest small or even negative gaps, the wage gap is substantial when workers with comparable human capital characteristics are considered. Although the gender wage gap declined from the mid-1990s to 2000, the gap appears to increase thereafter. The results also indicate that females have access barriers to certain human capital profiles, which contributes to wage gaps. The unexplained component of the gender wage gaps is more pronounced among poorer individuals. In Nicaragua, particularly, these unexplained gaps are negative for those at the lowest extreme of the earnings distribution.
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Paper provided by Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department in its series RES Working Papers with number
4639.
Find related papers by JEL classification: C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination O54 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean
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