Occupational segregation, wage discrimination, and impact on poverty in rural Bangladesh
Akter, S.
Journal of Developing Areas 39(1): 15-39
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-037X DOI: 10.2307/4192987Document Number: 260611
This study quantifies occupational segregation and wage discrimination in the rural labour market of Bangladesh. Wage equations for seven employment categories were estimated using Heckman's two-step procedure. Multinomial logit analysis was applied to estimate occupational attainment for males from a set of personal characteristics and then an occupational distribution for females was simulated. The dataset used was a part of an eight-village census undertaken in 1994-95 by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. Ideally, the capacity to transform time and strength of labour into income between men and women should differ due to the difference in productivity. This analysis shows that more than 70% of the total gender pay gap remains unjustified and is due mainly to the concentration of women in low-paid work owing to job discrimination. Development programmes in the rural sector have achieved some success in bringing poor women into paid jobs but failed to reduce within-job discrimination. It is argued that attempts to reduce poverty will not bring the desired goal unless women have free access to paid work and the unjustified job segregation and pay discrimination are considerably reduced.