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Gender wage discrimination in India-- Glass ceiling or sticky floor?

Author

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  • SHANTANU KHANNA

    (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India)

Abstract

Traditional analysis of gender wage gaps has largely focused on average gaps between men and women, and mean wage decompositions such as the Blinder-Oaxaca (1973) decomposition method. To answer the question of whether there is a “glass ceiling” or a “sticky floor”, i.e. whether wage gaps are higher at the upper or lower ends of the wage distribution, this paper examines the wage gaps across different quantiles of the wage distribution. These gender wage gaps are analysed for regular wage workers in India using the 66th round of the National Sample Survey’s Employment - Unemployment Schedule (2009-2010). The paper finds evidence of a “sticky floor”. In addition to estimating the standard OLS wage equations for men and women, quantile regressions are used to assess how different covariates such as education, union membership, and occupations, affect within and between group (gender) inequalities. Finally, the Machado-Mata-Melly (2006) decomposition method is used to decompose gender wage gaps at different quantiles to determine whether it is the differences in characteristics (levels of covariates) or the unexplained (discrimination) component that drives the sticky floor effect. The paper concludes with a discussion on the possible reasons for observing a sticky floor phenomenon in India.

Suggested Citation

  • Shantanu Khanna, 2012. "Gender wage discrimination in India-- Glass ceiling or sticky floor?," Working papers 214, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cde:cdewps:214
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Maryam Jamielaa, 2018. "Trade openness and female-male earnings differentials: Evidence from Indonesia," Economic Journal of Emerging Markets, Universitas Islam Indonesia, vol. 10(1), pages 82-92, April.
    3. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2016. "Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: caste gaps in earnings in Indian small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 325-346, February.
    4. Avinno Faruk, 2021. "Analysing the glass ceiling and sticky floor effects in Bangladesh: evidence, extent and elements," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(9), pages 1-23, September.
    5. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2016. "Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: caste gaps in earnings in Indian small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 325-346, February.
    6. Hazarika, Bhabesh, 2017. "Decomposition of Gender Income Gap in Rural Informal Micro-enterprises: An Unconditional Quantile Approach in the Handloom Industry," Working Papers 17/216, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    7. Pooja Sengupta & Roma Puri, 2022. "Gender Pay Gap in India: A Reality and the Way Forward—An Empirical Approach Using Quantile Regression Technique," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 10(1), pages 50-81, June.
    8. Christophe Nordman & Leopold R. Sarr & Smriti Sharma, 2015. "Cognitive, Non-Cognitive Skills and Gender Wage Gaps: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data in Bangladesh," Working Papers DT/2015/19, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    9. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2013. "Entrepreneurship or Survival? Caste and Gender of Small Business in India," Working papers 228, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    10. Balakarushna Padhi & Udaya S. Mishra & Urmi Pattanayak, 2019. "Gender-Based Wage Discrimination in Indian Urban Labour Market: An Assessment," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(3), pages 361-388, September.
    11. Dona Ghosh & Jayedeep Sengupta, 2020. "Medical intervention before death of elderly in India: An inquiry into gender‐based difference," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(6), pages 1371-1383, November.
    12. Sonu Madan, 2019. "Wage Differentials Among Workers: An Empirical Analysis of the Manufacturing and Service Sectors," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(4), pages 731-747, December.
    13. Zheng Fang & Chris Sakellariou, 2015. "Glass Ceilings versus Sticky Floors: Evidence from Southeast Asia and an International Update," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 215-242, September.
    14. Mitali Chinara, 2018. "Gender Discrimination in Wage Earnings: A Study of Indian Wage Market," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 61(1), pages 157-169, March.
    15. Sirisha C. Naidu & Lyn Ossome, 2018. "Work, Gender, and Immiseration in South Africa and India," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 332-348, June.
    16. 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.
    17. Bhabesh Hazarika, 2020. "Gender income gap in rural informal micro-enterprises: an unconditional quantile decomposition approach in the handloom industry," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(3), pages 441-473, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage decompositions; gender discrimination; glass ceiling; sticky floor; quantile regressions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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