IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/4350.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Market Liberalization Reduce Gender Discrimination? Econometric Evidence from Hungary, 1986-98

Author

Listed:
  • Campos, Nauro
  • Jolliffe, Dean

Abstract

An alleged achievement of socialism was gender equality in the labour market. Has its collapse shattered this accomplishment? The theoretical literature and attendant empirical evidence are inconclusive. Using data for 2.9 million wage earners in Hungary we find that the male/female difference in log wages declined from 0.31 to 0.19 between 1986 and 1998 and that this is largely explained by a matching decline in ‘Oaxaca's discrimination,’ suggesting extraordinary improvement of women’s relative situation. Further, we find that variation over time in the wage gaps is associated with public and large firms having progressively smaller gaps than their counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Campos, Nauro & Jolliffe, Dean, 2004. "Does Market Liberalization Reduce Gender Discrimination? Econometric Evidence from Hungary, 1986-98," CEPR Discussion Papers 4350, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4350
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP4350
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. DiNardo, John & Fortin, Nicole M & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1001-1044, September.
    2. Daniel Münich & Jan Svejnar & Katherine Terrell, 2005. "Returns to Human Capital Under The Communist Wage Grid and During the Transition to a Market Economy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 100-123, February.
    3. Orazem, Peter F & Vodopivec, Milan, 1995. "Winners and Losers in Transition: Returns to Education, Experience, and Gender in Slovenia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 9(2), pages 201-230, May.
    4. Constantin G. Ogloblin, 1999. "The Gender Earnings Differential in the Russian Transition Economy," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(4), pages 602-627, July.
    5. Elizabeth Brainerd, 2000. "Women in Transition: Changes in Gender Wage Differentials in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(1), pages 138-162, October.
    6. Susan J. Linz, 1996. "Gender Differences in the Russian Labor Market," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 161-185, March.
    7. Appleton, Simon & Hoddinott, John & Krishnan, Pramila, 1999. "The Gender Wage Gap in Three African Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 289-312, January.
    8. Ariane Pailhé, 2000. "Gender Discrimination in Central Europe during the Systemic Transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(2), pages 505-535, July.
    9. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    10. Randall K. Filer & Jan Hanousek, 2002. "Data Watch: Research Data from Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 225-240, Winter.
    11. Jennifer Hunt, 2002. "The Transition in East Germany: When Is a Ten-Point Fall in the Gender Wage Gap Bad News?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 148-169, January.
    12. Newell, Andrew & Reilly, Barry, 2001. "The gender pay gap in the transition from communism: some empirical evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 287-304, December.
    13. Paternostro, Stefano & Sahn, David E., 1999. "Wage determination and gender discrimination in a transition economy : the case of Romania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2113, The World Bank.
    14. Svejnar, Jan, 1999. "Labor markets in the transitional Central and East European economies," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 42, pages 2809-2857, Elsevier.
    15. Tito Boeri & Katherine Terrell, 2002. "Institutional Determinants of Labor Reallocation in Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 51-76, Winter.
    16. Xin Meng & Junsen Zhang & Pak-Wai Liu, 2000. "Sectoral gender wage differentials and discrimination in the transitional Chinese economy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 13(2), pages 331-352.
    17. Flanagan, Robert J., 1998. "Were communists good human capitalists? The case of the Czech Republic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 295-312, September.
    18. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    19. Altonji, Joseph G. & Blank, Rebecca M., 1999. "Race and gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 48, pages 3143-3259, Elsevier.
    20. Ulla Grapard, 1997. "Theoretical Issues of Gender in the Transition from Socialist Regimes," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 665-686, September.
    21. Cotton, Jeremiah, 1988. "On the Decomposition of Wage Differentials," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 236-243, May.
    22. Reimers, Cordelia W, 1983. "Labor Market Discrimination against Hispanic and Black Men," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(4), pages 570-579, November.
    23. Jolliffe, Dean, 2002. "The Gender Wage Gap in Bulgaria: A Semiparametric Estimation of Discrimination," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 276-295, June.
    24. David Neumark, 1988. "Employers' Discriminatory Behavior and the Estimation of Wage Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
    25. Karoly Fazekas & Jeno Koltay (ed.), 2002. "The Hungarian Labour Market 2002," The Hungarian Labour Market Yearbooks, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, number 2002, December.
    26. Jurajda, Stepan, 2003. "Gender wage gap and segregation in enterprises and the public sector in late transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 199-222, June.
    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. Andrén, Daniela & Andrén, Thomas, 2007. "Occupational Gender Composition and Wages in Romania: From Planned Equality to Market Inequality?," IZA Discussion Papers 3152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Niels-Hugo Blunch, 2018. "Just like a woman? New comparative evidence on the gender income gap across Eastern Europe and Central Asia," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-41, December.
    3. Karolina Goraus & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2014. "Gender Wage Gap in Poland – Can It Be Explained by Differences in Observable Characteristics?," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 36.
    4. Karolina Goraus & Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas Velde, 2017. "Which Gender Wage Gap Estimates to Trust? A Comparative Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(1), pages 118-146, March.
    5. Jurajda, Stepan, 2003. "Gender wage gap and segregation in enterprises and the public sector in late transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 199-222, June.
    6. Daniela Andrén & Thomas Andrén, 2015. "Gender and occupational wage gaps in Romania: from planned equality to market inequality?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    7. Stepan Jurajda, 2000. "Gender Wage Gap and Segregation in Late Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 306, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    8. Ganguli, Ina & Terrell, Katherine, 2005. "Wage Ceilings and Floors: The Gender Gap in Ukraine's Transition," IZA Discussion Papers 1776, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Norberto Pignatti, 2012. "Gender wage gap dynamics in a changing Ukraine," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-44, December.
    10. Newell, Andrew & Reilly, Barry, 2001. "The gender pay gap in the transition from communism: some empirical evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 287-304, December.
    11. Tilman Brück & Alexander M. Danzer & Alexander Muravyev & Natalia Weißhaar, 2007. "Determinants of Poverty during Transition: Household Survey Evidence from Ukraine," ESCIRRU Working Papers 2, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Robert Breunig & Sandrine Rospabe, 2005. "Parametric vs. semi-parametric estimation of the male-female wage gap: An application to France," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2005-458, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    13. Tilman Brück & Alexander M. Danzer & Alexander Muravyev & Natalia Weißhaar, 2007. "Determinants of Poverty during Transition: Household Survey Evidence from Ukraine," ESCIRRU Working Papers 2, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Paternostro, Stefano & Sahn, David E., 1999. "Wage determination and gender discrimination in a transition economy : the case of Romania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2113, The World Bank.
    15. Kathryn Anderson & Richard Pomfret, 2000. "Gender Effects of Transition: The Kyrgyz Republic," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2000-08, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    16. Svejnar, Jan & Münich, Daniel & Terrell, Katherine, 2004. "Do Markets Favour Women's Human Capital More Than Planners?," CEPR Discussion Papers 4760, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Dorota Witkowska, 2013. "Gender Disparities in the Labor Market in the EU," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 19(4), pages 331-354, November.
    18. Dong, Xiao-Yuan & MacPhail, Fiona & Bowles, Paul & Ho, Samuel P. S., 2004. "Gender Segmentation at Work in China's Privatized Rural Industry: Some Evidence from Shandong and Jiangsu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 979-998, June.
    19. Munich, Daniel & Svejnar, Jan & Terrell, Katherine, 2005. "Is women's human capital valued more by markets than by planners?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 278-299, June.
    20. Semykina, Anastasia & Linz, Susan J., 2007. "Gender differences in personality and earnings: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 387-410, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discrimination; Gender; Education; Transition; Hungary; Wage gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • P30 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cpr:ceprdp:4350. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.