IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/intlab/v160y2021i3p477-500.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of inequality in Indian regular wage employment, 1993–2012

Author

Listed:
  • Rahul MENON

Abstract

Through the use of decomposition exercises, this article estimates the relative contributions of different factors to inequality among Indian regular wage employees between 1993/94 and 2011/12. It also estimates the contributions of returns to factors and shares of factors determining inequality. The author finds that the single largest contributor among the regular wage workforce in India is access to higher education. However, institutional factors such as union membership and employment in the public sector also play important roles, indicating that inequality cannot be simply reduced to demographic or technical factors, but must also take into account the institutional structure of an economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Rahul MENON, 2021. "Determinants of inequality in Indian regular wage employment, 1993–2012," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 477-500, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:160:y:2021:i:3:p:477-500
    DOI: 10.1111/ilr.12198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12198
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ilr.12198?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank Levy & Peter Temin, 2007. "Inequality and Institutions in 20th Century America," NBER Working Papers 13106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Deshpande, Ashwini & Goel, Deepti & Khanna, Shantanu, 2018. "Bad Karma or Discrimination? Male–Female Wage Gaps Among Salaried Workers in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 331-344.
    3. Frank Cowell & Carlo Fiorio, 2011. "Inequality decompositions—a reconciliation," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(4), pages 509-528, December.
    4. S Madheswaran, 2016. "The Changing Rates of Return to Education in India: Evidence from NSS Data," Working Papers id:11324, eSocialSciences.
    5. Radhika Pandey & Ila Patnaik & Ajay Shah, 2019. "Business Cycle Measurement in India," Societies and Political Orders in Transition, in: Sergey Smirnov & Ataman Ozyildirim & Paulo Picchetti (ed.), Business Cycles in BRICS, pages 121-152, Springer.
    6. Singhari, Smrutirekha & Madheswaran, S., 2016. "Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis," Working Papers 361, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    7. Henry S Farber & Daniel Herbst & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Unions and Inequality over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 136(3), pages 1325-1385.
    8. Bhalotra, Sonia., 2003. "The impact of economic liberalization on employment and wages in India," ILO Working Papers 993650543402676, International Labour Organization.
    9. Sudipa Sarkar, 2019. "Employment Change in Occupations in Urban India: Implications for Wage Inequality," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 50(5), pages 1398-1429, September.
    10. repec:ilo:ilowps:365054 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Vachaspati Shukla & Udaya S. Mishra, 2020. "Expansion in Education and Its Impact on Income Inequality: Cross-sectional Evidence from India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 331-362, June.
    12. Goldin, Claudia D. & Katz, Lawrence F., 2009. "The Future of Inequality: The Other Reason Education Matters So Much," Scholarly Articles 4341691, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    13. Sergey Smirnov & Ataman Ozyildirim & Paulo Picchetti (ed.), 2019. "Business Cycles in BRICS," Societies and Political Orders in Transition, Springer, number 978-3-319-90017-9, July.
    14. Sonalde Desai & Omkar Joshi, 2019. "The Paradox of Declining Female Work Participation in an Era of Economic Growth," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(1), pages 55-71, March.
    15. Abraham, Vinoj, 2012. "Wages and earnings of marginalized social and religious groups in India: Data sources, scope, limitations and suggestions," MPRA Paper 37799, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Stephan Klasen & Janneke Pieters, 2015. "What Explains the Stagnation of Female Labor Force Participation in Urban India?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 29(3), pages 449-478.
    17. Singhari, Smrutirekha & Madheswaran, S., 2016. "Changing rates of return to education in India: Evidence from NSS data," Working Papers 358, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    18. Mehtabul Azam & Nishith Prakash, 2015. "A Distributional Analysis of Public–Private Wage Differential in India," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 394-414, December.
    19. Pandey, Radhika & Patnaik, Ila & Shah, Ajay, 2019. "Measuring business cycle conditions in India," Working Papers 19/269, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    20. Mukherjee, Dipa & Majumder, Rajarshi, 2011. "Occupational Pattern, Wage Rates and Earning Disparities in India: A Decomposition Analysis," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 46(1), pages 131-152.
    21. Shiney Chakraborty, 2020. "Gender Wage Differential in Public and Private Sectors in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(3), pages 765-780, September.
    22. Anuneeta Mitra, 2016. "Education and earning linkages of regular and casual workers in India: a quantile regression approach," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 18(1), pages 147-174, October.
    23. S. Madheswaran & Smrutirekha Singhari, 2016. "Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 59(2), pages 175-201, June.
    24. Tushar Agrawal, 2011. "Returns to education in India: Some recent evidence," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2011-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    25. Shorrocks, A F, 1982. "Inequality Decomposition by Factor Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 193-211, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shiba Shankar Pattayat & Jajati Keshari Parida & Kirtti Ranjan Paltasingh, 2023. "Gender Wage Gap among Rural Non-farm Sector Employees in India: Evidence from Nationally Representative Survey," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 28(1), pages 22-44, June.
    2. Satinder Singh & J. K. Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 0. "Employability and Earning Differentials Among Technically and Vocationally Trained Youth in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 0, pages 1-24.
    3. Satinder Singh & J. K. Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 2020. "Employability and Earning Differentials Among Technically and Vocationally Trained Youth in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 363-386, June.
    4. Amrita Datta & Tanuka Endow & Balwant Singh Mehta, 2020. "Education, Caste and Women’s Work in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 387-406, June.
    5. Deshpande, Ashwini & Goel, Deepti & Khanna, Shantanu, 2018. "Bad Karma or Discrimination? Male–Female Wage Gaps Among Salaried Workers in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 331-344.
    6. Ravi Srivastava, 2019. "Emerging Dynamics of Labour Market Inequality in India: Migration, Informality, Segmentation and Social Discrimination," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(2), pages 147-171, June.
    7. Soumyajit Chakraborty & Alok K. Bohara, 2021. "The Cost of Being ‘Backward’ in India: Socio-religious Discrimination in the Labour Market," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 15(2), pages 252-274, August.
    8. Rahul Menon, 2019. "Short-term contracts and their effect on wages in Indian regular wage employment," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(1), pages 142-164, March.
    9. Satinder Singh & Jajati K. Parida, 2022. "Employment and Earning Differentials Among Vocationally Trained Youth: Evidence from field studies in Punjab and Haryana in India," Millennial Asia, , vol. 13(1), pages 142-172, April.
    10. Pallavi Gupta & Satyanarayan Kothe, 2021. "Interpreting the Caste-based Earning Gaps in the Indian Labour Market: Theil and Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis," Papers 2110.06822, arXiv.org.
    11. Satinder Singh & Jatinder Singh, 2022. "Employment Scenario in Indian Punjab: Some Disquieting Features," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 7(2), pages 158-179, July.
    12. Muhammed Refeque & P. Azad, 2022. "How do linguistic and technical skills affect earnings in India?," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 23-57, June.
    13. Salverda, Wiemer & Checchi, Daniele, 2014. "Labour-Market Institutions and the Dispersion of Wage Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 8220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Shiney Chakraborty, 2020. "Gender Wage Differential in Public and Private Sectors in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(3), pages 765-780, September.
    15. Tiwari, Chhavi & Goli, Srinivas & Rammohan, Anu, 2021. "Reproductive Burden And Its Impact On Female Labour Market Outcomes In India: Evidence From Longitudinal Analyses," SocArXiv nhjvm, Center for Open Science.
    16. Margaux Suteau, 2020. "Inheritance Rights and Women's Empowerment in the Labor and Marriage Markets," THEMA Working Papers 2020-17, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    17. Chhavi Tiwari & Srinivas Goli & Anu Rammohan, 2022. "Reproductive Burden and Its Impact on Female Labor Market Outcomes in India: Evidence from Longitudinal Analyses," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2493-2529, December.
    18. Teixidó Figueras, Jordi & Duro Moreno, Juan Antonio, 2012. "Ecological Footprint Inequality: A methodological review and some results," Working Papers 2072/203168, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    19. Stefan Huemer & Beatrice Scheubel & Florian Walch, 2013. "Measuring Institutional Competitiveness in Europe," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 59(3), pages 576-608, September.
    20. Gustavo A. Marrero & Juan C. Palomino & Gabriela Sicilia, 2022. "Inequality of Opportunity in Educational Achievement in Western Europe: contributors and channels," Working Papers 612, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:160:y:2021:i:3:p:477-500. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ilounch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.