IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v12y2008i2p442-454.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender Earnings Differential in Urban China

Author

Listed:
  • Meiyan Wang
  • Fang Cai

Abstract

This study uses survey data collected from five large cities in China to describe and decompose the earnings difference between female and male workers. The results indicate that the main source of lower earnings for females lies in unequal pay within sectors, and that the earnings gap due to differences in sectoral attainment is relatively small. The results also reveal that most of the gender earnings differential is attributable to sex discrimination rather than to the gender difference in the endowment of human capital. Therefore, eliminating discrimination against females within individual sectors is effective in narrowing the gender earnings gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Meiyan Wang & Fang Cai, 2008. "Gender Earnings Differential in Urban China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 442-454, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:12:y:2008:i:2:p:442-454
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00450.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00450.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00450.x?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. William T. Dickens & Lawrence F. Katz, 1987. "Inter-Industry Wage Differences and Theories of Wage Determination," NBER Working Papers 2271, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:gig:chaktu:v:44:y:2015:i:3:p:79-102 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Rickne, Johanna, 2010. "Gender, Wages, and Social Security in China’s Industrial Sector," Working Paper Series 827, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Huo, Yujia & Golley, Jane, 2022. "Intergenerational education transmission in China: The gender dimension," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. CAI, Fang & DU, Yang, 2011. "Wage increases, wage convergence, and the Lewis turning point in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 601-610.
    5. Ye Luo, 2016. "Gender and Job Satisfaction in Urban China: The Role of Individual, Family, and Job Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 289-309, January.
    6. Xinxin Ma, 2022. "Internet use and gender wage gap: evidence from China," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 56(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. repec:rom:campco:v:9:y:2013:i:1:p:127-138 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Shuaizhang Feng & Yingyao Hu & Robert Moffitt, 2015. "Long Run Trends in Unemployment and Labor Force Participation in China," NBER Working Papers 21460, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Min Qin & Sabu Padmadas & James Brown & Jane Falkingham & Li Bohua & Qi Jianan, 2016. "Gender Inequalities in Employment and Wage-earning among Economic Migrants in Chinese Cities," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(6), pages 175-202.
    10. repec:ilo:ilowps:487966 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Gheorghe H. POPESCU & Elvira NICA, 2013. "Gender Equality And Global Economic Governance," Proceedings of Administration and Public Management International Conference, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 127-138, June.
    12. Ebenezer Lemven Wirba & Fiennasah Annif’ Akem & Francis Menjo Baye, 2021. "Earnings gap between men and women in the informal labor market in Cameroon," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1466-1491, August.
    13. Almas Heshmati & Biwei Su, 2017. "Analysis Of Gender Wage Differential In China’S Urban Labor Market," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 62(02), pages 423-445, June.
    14. Lin Xiu & Morley Gunderson, 2013. "Performance Pay in China: Gender Aspects," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 124-147, March.
    15. Jane Golley & Yixiao Zhou & Meiyan Wang, 2019. "Inequality of Opportunity in China's Labor Earnings: The Gender Dimension," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 27(1), pages 28-50, January.
    16. Elvira NICA & Gheorghe H. POPESCU, 2013. "Gender Differences In Strategy And Human Resource Management," Proceedings of Administration and Public Management International Conference, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 113-126, June.
    17. Ma, Xinxin, 2022. "Parenthood and the gender wage gap in urban China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Zhou, Xiaoyao & Ye, Jingjing & Li, Hao & Yu, Hongyan, 2022. "The rising child penalty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    19. Dasgupta, Sukti. & Matsumoto, Makiko. & Xia, Cuntao., 2015. "Women in the labour market in China," ILO Working Papers 994879663402676, International Labour Organization.
    20. Shi Li & Jin Song, 2011. "Changes in the Gender Wage Gap in Urban China, 1995-2007," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 201120, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    21. Xing, Chunbing & Yuan, Xiaoyan & Zhang, Junfu, 2022. "City size, family migration, and gender wage gap: Evidence from rural–urban migrants in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    22. Lee, Leng, 2012. "Decomposing wage differentials between migrant workers and urban workers in urban China's labor markets," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 461-470.
    23. repec:rom:campco:v:9:y:2013:i:1:p:113-126 is not listed 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. Richard Duhautois & Fabrice Gilles & Héloïse Petit, 2009. "Worker flows, job flows and establishment wage differentials: Analysing the case of France," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00646440, HAL.
    2. JOSEF ZWEIMÜLLER & Erling Barth, 1994. "Bargaining Structure, Wage Determination, and Wage Dispersion in 6 OECD Countries," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 81-93, February.
    3. Pieter A. Gautier & Coen N. Teulings, 2015. "Sorting And The Output Loss Due To Search Frictions," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(6), pages 1136-1166, December.
    4. Egger, Hartmut & Etzel, Daniel, 2012. "The impact of trade on employment, welfare, and income distribution in unionized general oligopolistic equilibrium," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1119-1135.
    5. Bernd Görzig & Martin Gornig & Axel Werwatz, 2004. "East Germany's Wage Gap: A Non-Parametric Decomposition Based on Establishment Characteristics," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 451, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Ellingsen, Tore & Rosen, Åsa, 1994. "Skill or Luck? Search Frictions and Wage Differentials," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 1, Stockholm School of Economics.
    7. Jeff Borland & Anthony Suen, 1990. "The Ddeterminants of Individual Wages in Australia: Competitive and Non‐Competitive Influences," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 23(4), pages 33-44, December.
    8. Bhaskar, V. & To, Ted, 2003. "Oligopsony and the distribution of wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 371-399, April.
    9. Kaltenberg, Mary & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2020. "The impact of automation on inequality across Europe," MERIT Working Papers 2020-009, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. Achim Schmillen, 2010. "Are Wages Equal Across Sectors of Production? A Panel Data Analysis for Tradable and Non-Tradable Goods," Working Papers 285, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    11. Moser, Christian & Saidi, Farzad & Wirth, Benjamin & Wolter, Stefanie, 2020. "Credit Supply, Firms, and Earnings Inequality," MPRA Paper 100371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Maury Gittleman & Brooks Pierce, 2012. "Inter-Industry Compensation Differentials," Working Papers 453, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    13. Ata Can Bertay & Jose Gabo Carreno & Harry Huizinga & Burak Uras & Nathanael Vellekoop, 2022. "Technological Change and the Finance Wage Premium," Working Papers tecipa-738, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    14. Valeria Cirillo & Matteo Sostero & Federico Tamagni, 2017. "Innovation and within-firm wage inequalities: empirical evidence from major European countries," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(5), pages 468-491, July.
    15. Simón Pérez, H., 2001. "La estructura de salarios pactados en España," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 19, pages 171-187, Diciembre.
    16. Espen R. Moen & Åsa Rosén, 2006. "Equilibrium Incentive Contracts and Efficiency Wages," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(6), pages 1165-1192, December.
    17. Aleksandra Matuszewska-Janica & Dorota Witkowska, 2021. "Differences between determinants of men and women monthly wages across fourteen European Union states," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 16(3), pages 503-531, September.
    18. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 1999. "Is There a Discretion in Wage Setting? A Test Using Takeover Legislation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(3), pages 535-554, Autumn.
    19. Bernd Görzig & Martin Gornig & Axel Werwatz, 2008. "Firm wage differentiation in Eastern Germany A non‐parametric analysis of the wage spread," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(2), pages 273-292, April.
    20. Nicola Meccheri & Luciano Fanti, 2012. "Managerial Delegation Schemes in a Duopoly with Endogenous Production Costs: A Comparison of Sales and Relative Profit Delegation under Centralised Unionisation," Working Paper series 44_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.

    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:rdevec:v:12:y:2008:i:2:p:442-454. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    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.