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Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia

46 (1) 2012 13 – 25


Revisiting The Impact of Occupational Segregation on the Gender Earnings Gap in Malaysia
Pengkajian Semula Kesan Pengasingan Pekerjaan ke atas Jurang Pendapatan Mengikut Jantina di Malaysia

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Malaysia

scgoy@fss.unimas.my

Lancaster University
UNITED KINGDOM

gjohnes@lancs.ac.uk

Abstract

More women participate in the labour force nowadays than in the past. However, they do not join the workforce as equal members. Segregation in occupational distribution and pay differentials between men and women remain pervasive. This article uses data from the Malaysian Population and Family Survey 2004 to shed light on the inequality in earnings based on the framework developed by Brown et al. (1980). The empirical results suggest that segregation per se works to the advantage of women. A surprising finding is that the intra-occupational component, which is unjustified by reference to observed characteristics, is responsible for the overall earnings gap. It is likely that the within-occupational earnings discrimination reflects hierarchical segregation. Also, a portion of the earnings gap is attributed to a sample selection effect. Our results suggest that a timely policy intervention would aim to find ways of improving the returns to characteristics earned by women in a given occupation.

Keywords

earnings; gender; Malaysia; segregation

Bibliography

Export Bibliography

Siew, , & Johnes, (2012). Revisiting The Impact of Occupational Segregation on the Gender Earnings Gap in Malaysia. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 46(1), 13–25.

@article{goy2012revisiting,
  title={Revisiting The Impact of Occupational Segregation on the Gender Earnings Gap in Malaysia},
  author={Siew, Ching Goy and Johnes, Geraint},
  journal={Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia},
  volume={46},
  number={1},
  pages={13—25},
 

year={2012},
}


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