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Do cognitive and noncognitive skills explain the gender wage gap in middle-income countries ? an analysis using STEP data

Author

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  • Tognatta,Namrata Raman
  • Valerio,Alexandria
  • Sanchez Puerta,Maria Laura

Abstract

Gender-based wage discrimination is a highly researched area of labor economics. However, most studies on this topic have focused on schooling and paid limited attention to the mechanisms through which cognitive and noncognitive skills influence wages. This paper uses data from adults in seven low- and middle-income countries that participated in the STEP Skills Measurement Survey to conduct a comparative analysis of gender wage gaps. The paper uses schooling and skills measures, including reading proficiency and complexity of on-the-job computer tasks to proxy cognitive skills, and personality and behavioral measures to proxy for noncognitive skills in wage decompositions. The analysis finds that years of school explain most of the gender wage gap. The findings also suggest that cognitive and noncognitive skills affect men?s and women?s earnings in different ways, and that the effects of these skills vary across the wage distribution and between countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Tognatta,Namrata Raman & Valerio,Alexandria & Sanchez Puerta,Maria Laura, 2016. "Do cognitive and noncognitive skills explain the gender wage gap in middle-income countries ? an analysis using STEP data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7878, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7878
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    Cited by:

    1. Didier, Nicolás, 2021. "Does the expansion of higher education reduce gender gaps in the labor market? Evidence from a natural experiment," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Michal Brzezinski, 2017. "Childhood circumstances, personality traits and adult-life economic outcomes in developing countries: Evidence from STEP," IBS Working Papers 05/2017, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    3. Cristian Bonavida, 2022. "Lo que hacemos con lo que sabemos. Brechas de género en habilidades y tareas en América Latina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4542, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    4. Ibrahim Mohammed & Priscilla Twumasi Baffour & Wassiuw Abdul Rahaman, 2021. "Gender Differences in Earnings Rewards to Personality Traits in Wage-employment and Self-employment Labour Markets," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 46(2), pages 204-228, May.
    5. Maksimova, Mariia, 2019. "The return to non-cognitive skills on the Russian labor market," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 53, pages 55-72.

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