IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/intsec/v17y2022i2p183-215.html

How much between‐group wage gaps can be explained by talent allocation frictions in China?

Author

Listed:
  • Zhe Li
  • Qingyu Peng

Abstract

What explains huge wage gaps between different hukou and gender groups in China? This paper uses an overlapping generation model with human capital investment and occupational choices to quantify how much wage gaps between these groups can be imputed to two types of talent allocation frictions, labor market discrimination, and human capital accumulation barriers. The calibrated model indicates that the two types of talent allocation frictions can explain a significant proportion (four‐fifths, one‐third, and three‐fifths) of the wage gap between each non‐urban‐men group (urban women, rural men, and rural women) and urban men in 2013. Our counterfactual exercise also shows that eliminating these two frictions since 1995 would result in about half a percentage point increase in China's economic growth rate between 1995 and 2013.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhe Li & Qingyu Peng, 2022. "How much between‐group wage gaps can be explained by talent allocation frictions in China?," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 183-215, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:intsec:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:183-215
    DOI: 10.1002/ise3.16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ise3.16
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ise3.16?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. Lee, Hyun & Zhao, Kai & Zou, Fei, 2022. "Does the early retirement policy really benefit women?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 330-345.
    2. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 503-530.
    3. Neal, Derek A & Johnson, William R, 1996. "The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 869-895, October.
    4. Meng, Xin & Zhang, Junsen, 2001. "The Two-Tier Labor Market in Urban China: Occupational Segregation and Wage Differentials between Urban Residents and Rural Migrants in Shanghai," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 485-504, September.
    5. Ji Ting, 2019. "Aggregate implications of occupational inheritance in China and India," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-24, January.
    6. Lundberg, Shelly J & Startz, Richard, 1983. "Private Discrimination and Social Intervention in Competitive Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 340-347, June.
    7. Hui He & Lei Ning & Dongming Zhu, 2019. "The Impact of Rapid Aging and Pension Reform on Savings and the Labor Supply," IMF Working Papers 2019/061, International Monetary Fund.
    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. Donal O'Neill & Olive Sweetman & Dirk van de Gaer, 2000. "Estimating Counterfactual Densities: An application to Black-White Wage Differentials in the U.S," Economics Department Working Paper Series n1040600, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    2. Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Inequality, Too Much of a Good Thing," Working Papers 845, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    4. repec:pri:cepsud:87krueger is not listed on IDEAS
    5. David Neumark, 2018. "Experimental Research on Labor Market Discrimination," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 799-866, September.
    6. Rajesh Ramachandran & Christopher Rauh, 2018. "Discrimination without taste: how discrimination can spillover and persist," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 249-274, August.
    7. Richard Chisik, 2015. "Job market signalling, stereotype threat and counter‐stereotypical behaviour," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(1), pages 155-188, February.
    8. Glenn C. Loury, 1998. "Discrimination in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Beyond Market Interactions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 117-126, Spring.
    9. Bøg, Martin & Kranendonk, Erik, 2011. "Labor market discrimination of minorities? yes, but not in job offers," MPRA Paper 33332, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Barr & Oduro, Abena, 2000. "Ethnicity and wage determination in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2506, The World Bank.
    11. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2010. "The Importance of Segregation, Discrimination, Peer Dynamics, and Identity in Explaining Trends in the Racial Achievement Gap," NBER Working Papers 16257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Gao, Han, 2025. "Social security and female labor supply in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    13. Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Inequality, Too Much of a Good Thing," Working Papers 845, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    14. Joshua C. Pinkston, 2006. "A Test of Screening Discrimination with Employer Learning," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 59(2), pages 267-284, January.
    15. Roland G. Fryer, Jr. & Devah Pager & Jörg L. Spenkuch, 2013. "Racial Disparities in Job Finding and Offered Wages," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 633-689.
    16. David Neumark & Harry Holzer, 2000. "Assessing Affirmative Action," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 483-568, September.
    17. Raviv Murciano-Goroff, 2022. "Missing Women in Tech: The Labor Market for Highly Skilled Software Engineers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3262-3281, May.
    18. Kevin Lang & Jee-Yeon K. Lehmann, 2012. "Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market: Theory and Empirics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 959-1006, December.
    19. Alexander Ugarov, 2019. "Talent Misallocation across Countries: Evidence from Educational Achievement Tests," 2019 Meeting Papers 1466, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    20. Srikanth Ramamurthy & Norman Sedgley, 2015. "Human Capital Choice and the Wage Gap: The Role of Worklife Expectancy and Statistical Discrimination," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 175-187, June.
    21. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.

    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:wly:intsec:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:183-215. 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: .

    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.