Gender Disparities in Africa's Labor Market

Jorge Saba Arbache

Description

Women's earnings are a fraction of male's earnings in several African countries. It is tempting to conclude that this wage gap is a sign of discrimination against women in the labor market. Yet this book uses new datasets to show that the gap is not simply the result of discrimination in the labor markets, but rather the result of multiple factors, including access to education and credit, cultural values and household duties, and, above all, labor market conditions. It shows that gender disparities grow when economies are not functioning well and labor markets are tiny. More than the effect of discrimination, it seems that job rationing causes those with better human capital and those with more power in the household-usually the men-to take the few jobs that are available. It is hardly surprising, then, that in a region where only a fraction of the labor force finds jobs in the formal sector, gender disparities in earnings are so high. The book further documents that firm-level and sector characteristics are additional powerful factors in explaining the gender disparities in the labor market.
As the causes are not simple, neither are the solutions; multifaceted strategies are needed. By providing environments that support economic growth and, more importantly, job creation, as well as by promoting equal access for women to education and rethinking the attitudes that limit what women may achieve, governments in the region will substantially improve the well-being of all their peoples.
'Gender Disparities in Africa's Labor Market' helps to fill the knowledge gap and identify the links between gender disparities and poverty reduction. The work was implemented in collaboration with a range of poverty and labor market studies to maximize its usefulness for policy dialogue in specific countries.
This book will be of interest to policy makers, students, academics, gender experts, and all those interested in gender issues and development.

Sujets

• Equal pay for equal work
• Unemployment
• Time use research
• Bargaining power
• Gender
• Poverty reduction

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 05 août 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 34
• EAN13: 9780821380703
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

AFRICA DEVELOPMENT FORUM
Gender Disparities
in Africa’s Labor
Market
Jorge Saba Arbache, Alexandre Kolev, and
Ewa Filipiak, EditorsGender Disparities in
Africa’s Labor MarketGender Disparities in
Africa’s Labor Market
Jorge Saba Arbache, Alexandre Kolev,
and Ewa Filipiak
Editors
A copublication of the Agence Française de Développement and the World Bank© 2010 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
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Washington DC 20433
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All rights reserved
1 2 3 4 13 12 11 10
This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Devel-
opment / The World Bank. The fi ndings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this
volume do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or
the governments they represent.
The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The
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do not imply any judgement on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any
territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
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ISBN: 978-0-8213-8066-6
eISBN: 978-0-8213-8070-3
DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8066-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gender disparities in Africa’s labor market / Jorge Saba Arbache, Alexandre Kolev, and Ewa
Filipiak, editors.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8213-8066-6 — ISBN 978-0-8213-8070-3 (ebook)
1. Sex discrimination in employment—Africa. 2. Sexual division of labor—Africa. 3. Labor
market—Africa. I. Arbache, Jorge Saba. II. Kolev, Alexandre. III. Filipiak, Ewa. IV. World Bank.
HD6060.5.A35G46 2010
331.4'133096—dc22
2010014200
Cover photo: Corbis
Cover design: Naylor Design, Washington, DCAfrica Development Forum Series
The Africa Development Forum series was created in 2009 to focus on issues of
signifi cant relevance to Sub-Saharan Africa’s social and economic development.
Its aim is both to record the state of the art on a specifi c topic and to contribute
to ongoing local, regional, and global policy debates. It is designed specifi cally to
provide practitioners, scholars, and students with the most up-to-date research
results while highlighting the promise, challenges, and opportunities that exist
on the continent.
The series is sponsored by the Agence Française de Développement and the
World Bank. The manuscripts chosen for publication represent the highest
quality in each institution’s research and activity output and have been selected
for their relevance to the development agenda. Working together with a shared
sense of mission and interdisciplinary purpose, the two institutions are com-
mitted to a common search for new insights and new ways of analyzing the
development realities of the Sub-Saharan Africa Region.
Advisory Committee Members
Agence Française de Développement
Pierre Jacquet, Directeur de la Stratégie et Chef Économiste
Robert Peccoud, Directeur de la Recherche
World Bank
Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist, Africa Region
Jorge Arbache, Senior EconomistContents
Foreword xix
About the Editors and Authors xxi
Acknowledgments xxv
Abbreviationsii
Overview
Why Study Gender Disparities in Africa’s Labor Markets? 1
Jorge Saba Arbache, Ewa Filipiak, and Alexandre Kolev
Objective of This Book 2
Countries Covered in the Studies 3
Book Organization and Topics 5
The Main Findings on Gender Disparities in Africa 8
Policy Recommendations and the Way Forward 16
PART 1 STYLIZED FACTS 21
1 Gender Disparities in Africa’s Labor Markets: A Cross-
Country Comparison Using Standardized Survey Data 23
Alexandre Kolev and Nicolas Sirven
Data and Concepts 24
Gender Differences in Labor Market Outcomes 27
Gender Disparities at Work 36
viiviii Contents
The Role of Educational Attainment and Gender
Inequalities in Education 42
Conclusions 49
Annex 51
PART 2 DISP ARITIES IN EMPLOYMENT, PAY, EDUCATION,
AND OTHER DIMENSIONS: A MICRO-ANALYSIS 55
2 Exploring the Gender Pay Gap Through Different
Age Cohorts: The Case of Ethiopia 57
Alexandre Kolev and Pablo Suárez Robles
Data and Concepts 58
Methodology 62
Results 65
Conclusions 70
Annex 72
3 Gender Disparities in the Malagasy Labor Market 87
Christophe J. Nordman, Faly Rakotomanana,
and Anne-Sophie Robilliard
Characteristics of the Malagasy Labor Market 91
Data, Defi nitions, and Methods 92
Results 94
Summary and Concluding Remarks 109
Annex 3A Concepts and Methods 113
Annex 3B Summary Statistics of the Variables
Used in the Econometric Analysis 120
Annex 3C Determinants of Sectoral Allocation 122
Annex 3D Wage Employment Earnings Equations 134
Annex 3E Earnings Gap Decompositions for
Wage Workers 144
4 Gender Differences in Pay in African Manufacturing Firms 155
Christophe J. Nordman and François-Charles Wolff
Data and Descriptive Statistics 158