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Mobility and earnings in Ethiopia's urban labor markets, 1994-2004

Author

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  • Bigsten, Arne
  • Mengistae, Taye
  • Shimeles, Abebe

Abstract

An analysis of panel data on individuals in a random selection of urban households in Ethiopia reveals large, sustained, and unexplained earnings gaps between public and private, and formal and informal sectors over the period 1994-2004. The authors have no formal evidence whetherthese gaps reflect segmentation of the labor market along either of these divides. In other words, they cannot show whether they are at least in part due to impediments to entry in the higher wage sector. But they do have evidence that, if segmentation explains any part of the observed earnings gaps, then it could only have weakened over the survey decade. The authors find, first, that the rate of mobility increased between the two pairs of sectors. Sample transition rates grew across survey waves, while state dependence in sector choice decreased. Second, the sensitivity of sector choice to earnings gaps increased over the same period. In particular, the role of comparative earnings in selection into the informal sector was evident throughout the survey decade and increased in magnitude over the second half of the period.

Suggested Citation

  • Bigsten, Arne & Mengistae, Taye & Shimeles, Abebe, 2007. "Mobility and earnings in Ethiopia's urban labor markets, 1994-2004," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4168, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4168
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cilasun, Seyit Mumin & Acar, Elif Oznur & Gunalp, Burak, 2015. "The Effects of Labor Market Reforms on the Labor Market Dynamics in Turkey," MPRA Paper 64767, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Pagés, Carmen & Stampini, Marco, 2009. "No education, no good jobs? Evidence on the relationship between education and labor market segmentation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 387-401, September.
    3. Tansel, Aysit & Kan, Elif Oznur, 2011. "Labor mobility across the formal/informal divide in Turkey: evidence from individual level data," MPRA Paper 35672, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Tansel, Aysit & Ozdemir, Zeynel / A., 2014. "Determinants of Transitions across Formal/Informal sectors in Egypt," MPRA Paper 61183, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. María del Pilar Casal & Bradford L. Barham, 2013. "Women’s Mobility in the Argentine Labour Market," Económica, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 59, pages 88-125, January-D.
    6. Carmen Pagés-Serra & Marco Stampini, 2007. "¿Sin formación no hay buenos empleos? Elementos de juicio sobre la relación entre la formación y la segmentación del mercado laboral," Research Department Publications 4562, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    7. Nath,Shanjukta & Wieser,Christina, 2021. "What Explains Wage Differentials for Urban Wage Earners? : Returns to Education for Ethiopia’s UrbanWage Employed," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9879, The World Bank.
    8. Bigsten, Arne, 2014. "Dimensions of African inequality," WIDER Working Paper Series 050, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Susan Namirembe Kavuma & Oliver Morrissey & Richard Upward, 2015. "Worker Flows and the Impact of Labour Transitions on Earnings in Uganda," Discussion Papers 2015-01, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    10. Ms. Louise Fox, 2015. "Are African Households Heterogeneous Agents?: Stylized Facts on Patterns of Consumption, Employment, Income and Earnings for Macroeconomic Modelers," IMF Working Papers 2015/102, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Headey, Derek D. & Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane & Worku, Ibrahim & Dereje, Mekdim & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum, 2012. "Urban wage behavior and food price inflation: the case of Ethiopia [Working Paper]:," ESSP working papers 41, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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    Keywords

    Labor Markets; Labor Standards; Work&Working Conditions; Markets and Market Access; Labor Management and Relations;
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