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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2011‒02‒19
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Anne Busch; Elke Holst |
| Abstract: | The study analyses the gender pay gap in private-sector management positions in Germany based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) for the years 2001-2008. It focuses in particular on gender segregation in the labor market, that is, on the unequal distribution of women and men across different occupations and on the effects of this inequality on earnings levels and gender wage differentials in management positions. Our paper is, to our knowledge, the first in Germany to use time-constant unobserved heterogeneity and gender-specific promotion probabilities to estimate wages and wage differentials for persons in managerial positions. The results of the fixed effects model show that working in a more “female” job, as opposed to a more “male” job, affects only women’s wages negatively. This result remains stable after controlling for human capital endowments and other effects. Mechanisms of the devaluation of jobs not primarily held by men also negatively affect pay in management positions (evaluative discrimination) and are even more severe for women (allocative discrimination). However, the effect is not linear; the wage penalties for women occur only in “integrated” (more equally male/female) jobs as opposed to typically male jobs, and not in typically female jobs. The devaluation of occupations that are not primarily held by men becomes even more evident when promotion probabilities are taken into account. An Oaxaca/Blinder decomposition of the wage differential between men and women in management positions shows that the full model explains 65 percent of the gender pay gap. In other words: Thirty-five percent remain unexplained; this portion reflects, for example, time-varying social and cultural conditions, such as discriminatory policies and practices in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Gender pay gap, managerial positions, gender segregation, glass-ceiling effects, Oaxaca/Blinder decomposition, fixed effects, selection bias |
| JEL: | J31 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp357&r=ltv |
| By: | Darryl McLeod (Fordham University, Department of Economics); Nora Lustig (Tulane University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | During the last decade, inequality and poverty fell sharply in many Latin American countries; a period in which voters chose left-leaning leaders in ten countries including about half the region’s population. Are these two developments related? Using data for 18 Latin American countries and political regime classification of Arnson and Perales (2007), this paper presents some econometric evidence that the social democratic regimes in Brazil, Chile and to a lesser extent Uruguay were more successful at reducing inequality and poverty than the so-called left populist regimes of Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela. Both groups implemented policies to redistribute income, but the social democratic regimes redistributive efforts were more effective. Argentina and Venezuela started the 1990-2008 sample window with lower levels of inequality, so to some extent recent reductions in inequality are a return to “normal” levels (as estimated by fixed effects). Inequality and poverty in Brazil and Chile, on the other hand, fell to historic lows during this period. Second, overall terms of trade shocks were more favorable for Argentina and Venezuela, so part of the drop in inequality in those countries can be attributed to typically transient commodity price booms. |
| JEL: | O15 P16 I32 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frd:wpaper:dp2010-13&r=ltv |
| By: | Alvaro Forteza (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República); Guzmán Ourens (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República) |
| Abstract: | We present a new database of social security indicators for eleven Latin American countries designed to show how much they promise to pay in return to contributions. The indicators are based on micro-simulations according to existing norms. Our results indicate that most programs are progressive. In most programs, retirement ages do not have a sizeable impact on the rates of return, given the length of service. The length of service has a strong impact on the expected returns to contributions, mostly due to vesting period conditions. Because of this, several pension programs in Latin America may be exacerbating income risk. |
| Keywords: | Latin America, Social Security, Internal Rate of Return. |
| JEL: | H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ude:wpaper:1810&r=ltv |
| By: | Borooah, Vani / K |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that social exclusion robs people of their "confidence" and this loss adversely affects their capacity to function effectively. We may not be able to define confidence precisely but we know it when we have it and also when we lack it. In a “just” society, no group should unfairly suffer from a “confidence deficit” or enjoy a “confidence surplus”. However, affirmative action policies to boost a deprived group's employment rate suffer from several defects. In particular, they may have only a small effect (as with Dalits in India) when the group's educational base is low. Consequently, another prong of policy could, indeed should, focus on improving the educational standards of Dalits. The root of the problem of poor Dalit achievement lies in the many dysfunctional primary and secondary schools in the villages and towns of India. Admittedly, tackling the problem at its roots will only yield results after a long delay. Nor does the emphasis on effective learning at school carry the glamour associated with being a putative graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Management, or the All-India Medical Institute. But, before the vast mass of educationally and economically deprived children in India (many of whom are Dalits) can meaningfully enter the portals of Universities and Institutes of Higher Education they need to go to good schools. |
| Keywords: | Dalits; Discrimination; Social Exclusion; Deprivation |
| JEL: | J71 J15 K31 |
| Date: | 2010–12–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28668&r=ltv |