Intra-Occupational Gender Earnings Gaps in Malaysia
Abstract
ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on the gender earnings gap of Malaysian employees within each occupational group. The decomposition method is used to determine the extent to which the intra-occupational gender earnings gaps can be explained by differences in the characteristics of male and female workers. The results show that some part of the earnings gap in the various occupational groups is ascribed to gender differences in education, experience and hours of work whilst a substantial portion of the gap is the residual or discrimination component. Interestingly, the residual or discrimination component of the gender earnings gaps tends to be larger in male-dominated occupations compared to female-dominated and gender-integrated occupations.   Â
References
Alksnis, C., Desmarais, S. and Curtis, J. (2008). Workforce segregation and the gender wage gap: Is “Women’s†work valued as highly as “Men’s� Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 38(6): 1416-1441.
Anker, R., Melkas, H. and Korten. A. (2003). Gender-based occupational segregation in the 1990’s. Working Paper No.16, InFocus Programme on Promoting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.
Blau, F. and Beller, A. (1988). Trends in earnings gaps by gender, 1971-1981. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 41(4): 513-529.
Blau, F. and Kahn, L. (2007). The gender pay gap; have women gone as far as they can? Academy of Management Perspectives. February: 1-23.
Blinder, A. (1973). Wage discrimination: reduced form and structural estimates. Journal of Human Resources. 8: 436-455.
Chapman, B. and Harding, J. (1985). Sex differences in earnings: an analysis of Malaysian wage data. Journal of Development Studies. 21(3): 362-376.
Cotter, D., Hermsen, J. and Vanneman, R. (2004). Gender inequality at work. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Davila, A. and Pagan, J. (1990). Gender pay and occupational attainment gaps in Costa Rica and El Salvador: a relative comparison of the late 1980s. Review of Development Economics. 3(2): 215-230.
England, P., Farkas, G., Kilbourne, B. and Dou, T. (1988). Explaining occupational sex segregation and wages: findings from a model with fixed effects. American Sociological Review. 53: 544-558.
England, P., Reid, L. and Kilbourne, B. (1996). The effects of the sex composition of jobs on starting wages in an organization: findings from NLSY. Demography. 33(4): 511521.
European Commission (2007). Report on equality between women and men 2007. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
Gunderson, M. (1994). Comparable worth and gender discrimination: an international perspective. Geneva: International Labour Office.
Heckman, J. (1979). Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica. 47(1): 153161.
Horton, S. ed. (1996). Women and industrialization in Asia. London & New York: Routledge.
ILO (2009). Global EMPLOYMENT TRENDS FOR WOMen, March 2009. Geneva: International Labour Office.
Javed, A. and Birjees, A. (1993). Estimating the gender wage gap in Rawalpindi City. Journal of Development Studies. 29 (2): 365-376
Kilbourne, B., England, P., Farkas ,G. Beron, K. and Weir, D. (1994). Returns to skill, compensating gaps and gender bias: effects of occupational characteristics on the wages of white women and men. American Journal of Sociology. 100 (3): 689-719.
Mincer, J. (1974). Schooling, experience and earnings. New York: Columbia University Press.
Mohamad Nor, L. (2000). Occupational sex segregation and discrimination in Peninsular Malaysia. Jurnal Pengurusan. 19: 1-20
Nelson, R. and Bridges, W. (1999). Legalizing gender inequality: courts, markets and unequal pay for women in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Neumark, D. (1988). Employers’ discriminatory behavior and the estimation of wage discrimination. Journal of Human Resources. 23(3): 279-95.
Oaxaca, R. (1973). Male-female wage gaps in urban labor markets. International Economic Review. 14(3): 693-709.
Oaxaca, R. and Ransom, M. (1994). On discrimination and the decomposition of wage gaps. Journal of Econometrics. 61: 5-21.
Oostendorp, R. (2004). Globalization and the gender wage gap. World Bank Research Working Paper 3256. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for International Development, Free University.
Polavieja, J. (2007). Occupational sex composition and earnings: individual and societal effects. Working Paper No. 2007-22. Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Solberg, E. and Laughlin, T. (1995). The gender pay gap, fringe benefits, and occupational crowding. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 48(4): 692-708.
