IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/ecobur/v7y2021i1p90-112n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the gender wage gap: Turkey in the years 2002–2019

Author

Listed:
  • Koral Zeynep Aktaş

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business Administration, Gebze Technical University, Cumhuriyet Mah. 2254 Sok. No:2, 41400, Turkey)

  • Mercan Murat Anıl

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business Administration, Gebze Technical University, Cumhuriyet Mah. 2254 Sok. No:2, 41400, Turkey)

Abstract

This study investigates the wage differential and discrimination between genders in Turkey based on data taken from the nationally representative Turkish Household Labour Survey for 2002 to 2019. The Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique was used which was then integrated into the Heckman’s selection correction procedure. It was found that the gender wage gap is small in the Turkish labour market, while most of this gap originates from the discrimination against women. In addition ignoring the occupational and sectoral effects on the gender wage gap could result in underestimation of the discrimination effects both directly and indirectly through higher human capital of female employees. Lastly all these indicate that the results could likely be specific to the data set.

Suggested Citation

  • Koral Zeynep Aktaş & Mercan Murat Anıl, 2021. "Assessing the gender wage gap: Turkey in the years 2002–2019," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 90-112, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ecobur:v:7:y:2021:i:1:p:90-112:n:1
    DOI: 10.18559/ebr.2021.1.6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.1.6
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.18559/ebr.2021.1.6?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. Bianca Fisher & Mduduzi Biyase & Frederich Kirsten & September Rooderick, 2020. "Gender Wage Discrimination in South Africa within the Affirmative Action Framework," Economic Development and Well-being Research Group Working Paper Series edwrg-01-2020, University of Johannesburg, College of Business and Economics, revised 2020.
    2. René Böheim & Marian Fink & Christine Zulehner, 2021. "About time: the narrowing gender wage gap in Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(4), pages 803-843, November.
    3. Mincer, Jacob, 1970. "The Distribution of Labor Incomes: A Survey with Special Reference to the Human Capital Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, March.
    4. Elisabeth Cudeville & Leman Yonca Gurbuzer, 2010. "Gender Wage Discrimination in the Turkish Labor Market: Can Turkey Be Part of Europe?," Post-Print hal-00642062, HAL.
    5. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    6. Martina Mysíková, 2012. "Gender Wage Gap in the Czech Republic and Central European Countries," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(3), pages 328-346.
    7. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5.
    8. David Madden, 2000. "Towards a broader explanation of male-female wage differences," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(12), pages 765-770.
    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. Arda Aktas & Gokce Uysal, 2011. "Explaining the Gender Wage Gap in Turkey Using the Wage Structure Survey," Working Papers 005, Bahcesehir University, Betam, revised Mar 2012.
    11. Elisabeth Cudeville & Leman Yonca Gurbuzer, 2010. "Gender Wage Discrimination in the Turkish Labor Market: Can Turkey Be Part of Europe?," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00642062, HAL.
    12. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1997. "Swimming Upstream: Trends in the Gender Wage Differential in 1980s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 1-42, January.
    13. Elisabeth Cudeville & Leman Yonca Gurbuzer, 2007. "Gender wage discrimination in the Turkish labor market," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00188745, HAL.
    14. Kunze, Astrid, 2005. "The evolution of the gender wage gap," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 73-97, February.
    15. René Böheim & Helmut Hofer & Christine Zulehner, 2007. "Wage differences between Austrian men and women: semper idem?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 213-229, July.
    16. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    17. Haroon Bhorat & Sumayya Goga, 2013. "The Gender Wage Gap in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Re-examination," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(5), pages 827-848, November.
    18. Haroon Bhorat & Sumayya Goga, 2012. "The Gender Wage Gap in the Post-apartheid South African Labour Market," Working Papers 12148, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    19. Elisabeth Cudeville & Leman Yonca Gurbuzer, 2010. "Gender Wage Discrimination in the Turkish Labor Market: Can Turkey Be Part of Europe?," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00642062, HAL.
    20. Heinze, Anja & Beninger, Denis & Beblo, Miriam & Laisney, François, 2003. "Measuring Selectivity-Corrected Gender Wage Gaps in the EU," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-74, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    21. Barbara R. Bergmann, 1974. "Occupational Segregation, Wages and Profits When Employers Discriminate by Race or Sex," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 103-110, April.
    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. Bedaso, Fenet Jima, 2024. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from Ethiopia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1393, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Altan Aldan, 2021. "Rising Female Labor Force Participation and Gender Wage Gap: Evidence From Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 865-884, June.
    3. Danquah, Michael & Iddrisu, Abdul Malik & Boakye, Ernest Owusu & Owusu, Solomon, 2021. "Do gender wage differences within households influence women's empowerment and welfare? Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 916-932.
    4. Günalp, Burak & Cilasun, Seyit Mümin & Acar, Elif Öznur, 2013. "Male-Female Labor Market Participation and the Extent of Gender-Based Wage Discrimination in Turkey," MPRA Paper 51503, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Boll Christina & Rossen Anja & Wolf André, 2017. "The EU Gender Earnings Gap: Job Segregation and Working Time as Driving Factors," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 237(5), pages 407-452, October.
    6. Leonora Risse & Lisa Farrell & Tim R L Fry, 2018. "Personality and pay: do gender gaps in confidence explain gender gaps in wages?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 919-949.
    7. Jacqueline Mosomi, 2019. "Distributional changes in the gender wage gap in the post-apartheid South African labour market," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-17, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.
    9. Kaya, Ezgi, 2019. "Gender wage gap across the quantiles:What is the role of firm segregation?," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2019/7, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    10. Fuchs, Michaela & Rossen, Anja & Weyh, Antje & Wydra-Somaggio, Gabriele, 2019. "Why do women earn more than men in some regions? : Explaining regional differences in the gender pay gap in Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 201911, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Aleksandra Majchrowska & Paweł Strawiński & Karolina Konopczak & Agnieszka Skierska, 2014. "Why are women paid less than men? An investigation into gender wage gap in Poland," Working Papers 2014-31, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    12. Aleksandra Majchrowska & Pawel Strawinski & Karolina Konopczak & Agnieszka Skierska, 2015. "Gender wage gap by occupational groups in Poland," Lodz Economics Working Papers 3/2015, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology.
    13. Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra & Schoiswohl, Florian, 2020. "Swinging female labor demand – How the public sector influences gender wage gaps in Europe," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 302, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    14. Antonczyk, Dirk & Fitzenberger, Bernd & Sommerfeld, Katrin, 2010. "Rising wage inequality, the decline of collective bargaining, and the gender wage gap," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 835-847, October.
    15. Ezgi Kaya, 2023. "Gender wage gap trends in Europe: The role of occupational skill prices," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(3), pages 385-405, September.
    16. Kwadwo Opoku & Emmanuel Adu Boahen, 2023. "Gender wage gaps in Ghana: a comparison across different selection models," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(7), pages 1-33, July.
    17. Paweenawat, Sasiwimon Warunsiri & Liao, Lusi, 2022. "Parenthood penalty and gender wage gap: Recent evidence from Thailand," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Carolina Castagnetti & Luisa Rosti & Marina Töpfer, 2020. "Discriminate me — If you can! The disappearance of the gender pay gap among public‐contest selected employees in Italy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1040-1076, November.
    19. Christl, Michael & Köppl-Turyna, Monika, 2017. "Gender wage gap and the role of skills: evidence from PIAAC dataset," GLO Discussion Paper Series 63, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender wage gap; gender wage discrimination; selection bias; Turkey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • 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

    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:vrs:ecobur:v:7:y:2021:i:1:p:90-112:n:1. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.