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Public Pension Governance And Asset Allocation

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  • Salma Ahmed
  • Pushkar Maitra

Abstract

Female wages in Bangladesh are significantly lower compared to male wages. This paper seeks to quantify the extent of discrimination in explaining this gender wage gap. We decompose the gender wage differential into a component that can be explained by differences in productive characteristics and a component unexplained by observable productive differences, which are attributed to discrimination. We examine this issue both for rural and urban areas in Bangladesh, using individual level unit record data. Methodologically, we use a number of different approaches to decompose the wage gap between the ???explained??? and the ???unexplained??? components. Our results show that gender wage differentials are considerably larger in urban areas compared to rural areas. The decomposition analysis suggests that a significant portion of this gender wage gap results from discrimination. We also find that failure to correct for sample selection bias leads to a significant under estimation of the gender wage gap in both rural and urban areas. Our results have significant policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Salma Ahmed & Pushkar Maitra, 2008. "Public Pension Governance And Asset Allocation," Monash Economics Working Papers 23/08, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:mos:moswps:2008-23
    as

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    File URL: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/eco/research/papers/2008/2308genderahmedmaitra.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; Wage Discrimination; Bangladesh.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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