Gender discrimination and returns to self-employment Evidence from rural India

1
Gender discrimination and returns to
self-employmentEvidence from rural India

• Klaus Deininger, Songquing Jin, and Hari K.
  Nagarajan
• Presented by
• Ania Bonarska and Gilbert Mbara
• Development Workshop

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What is gender discrimination?

• Wage discrimination is understood as reffering
  to women being paid lower wages after
  accounting for observable attributes.

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Gender discrimination in India

• The servant of your household has been born

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Why is gender discrimination analysis so
important?

• A negative impact of gender discrimination on
  growth
• Systematic differences in rewards affect
  households investment decisions
• In-depth analysis of the problem makes policy
  intervention more effective

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Whats new in the paper

• Developed vs. developing countries
• Focusing on informal market
• Reduction in discrimination over time

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Evidence of gender discrimination

• How is it different in the developed and
  developing world?
• Is self employment an answer here?

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Decision of entering the labor market by women

• Developing countries
• Households size
• Traditional norms in the society
• Non-labor income

• Developed countries
• Cost benefit analysis
• Aspirations and self realisation
• Educational level

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Ranges of factors influencing wages in rural
settings

• Imperfect or non existent other factor markets
• Limited mobility
• Social status and traditional norms
• Fluctuations in labor availability across seasons

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Evidence from rural India
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Market participation and wage determinants

• Lack of assets and opportunities elsewhere
  explains participation in labor market
• Wages for males are higher than those for females
  by between 27 and 41
• In non-agricultural market returns to education
  accrue only to males

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Economic growth vs. Gender discrimination

• Wage differential for male casual workers,
  equated to discrimination, increases with levels
  of per capita income
• Higher levels of growth may reinforce
  pre-existing inequalities

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The potential for self-employment

• Gender wage differentials do not reflect
  productivity differences
• Marginal product for family labor is three times
  higher than for hired labor
• Self employment should be more profitable for
  females than for males

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Policy implications

• Broader scope
• Womens education and awareness
• Establishment and formation of associations and
  cooperatives
• Control over resources and access to knowledge
  systems
• An enabling legal environment and regulation
• Wage for a given level of productivity