Can the Introduction of a Minimum Wage in FYR Macedonia Decrease the Gender Wage Gap?
This paper relies on a simple framework to understand the gender wage gap in Macedonia, and simulates how the gender wage gap would behave after the introduction of a minimum wage. First, it presents a new - albeit simple - decomposition of the wag...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/12/10108928/can-introduction-minimum-wage-fyr-macedonia-decrease-gender-wage-gap-can-introduction-minimum-wage-fyr-macedonia-decrease-gender-wage-gap http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6344 |
| Summary: | This paper relies on a simple framework
to understand the gender wage gap in Macedonia, and
simulates how the gender wage gap would behave after the
introduction of a minimum wage. First, it presents a new -
albeit simple - decomposition of the wage gap into three
factors: (i) a wage level factor, which measures the extent
to which the gender gap is driven by differences in wage
levels among low-skilled workers of opposite sex; (ii) a
skills endowment factor, which quantifies the extent to
which the gender wage gap is driven by the difference in the
share of high-skilled workers by gender; and (iii) returns
to education, which measures the extent to which the gender
gap is driven by differences by gender in returns to
education. Second, the paper presents simple set of
simulations that indicate that the introduction of a minimum
wage in Macedonia could contribute to decrease the gender
wage gap by up to 23 percent. Nevertheless, in order to
significantly improve the wage gap, a rather high minimum
wage may be required, which may contribute to reductions in employment. |
|---|