CSSN-Does Market Access Contribute to Gender Wage Inequality?

. > JOURNALS > The Journal of Quantitative & Technical Economics > 2014 > 201401

Does Market Access Contribute to Gender Wage Inequality?

Author : Source : The Journal of Quantitative & Technical Economics No.1(2014) 2014-01-07

Abstract: This paper firstly constructs the market access index which includes domestic market access and international market access for 338 cities in China, and makes use of the wage equation from New Economic Geography model to test the impact of market access on gender wage inequality by Heckman sample selection model and RIF decomposition. The conclusion shows that, market access has positive significant role on the wage, and may narrow the gender wage inequality among high-skilled labor, and widen the gender wage inequality among low skilled labor, thereby aggravate the overall gender wage inequality. This role is stronger in low-income group than that in the high-income group. RIF decomposition also confirms this fact, and the income distribution of upper part (90-50 sites) and wage structure effect make more contribution, particularly wage structure effect of market access contributes 60% of the total wage structure effect. This result states, we may use the impact of market access on gender wage to solve gender wage inequality.

Key words: Market Access, Gender Wage, RIF Decomposition

Editor: Yu Hui