Gender Streaming in Vietnam

Iffat Chowdhury,Elizaveta Perova,Hillary Johnson,Aneesh Mannava

doi:10.1596/29390

Abstract

We examine the gender wage gap in Vietnam and show that a non-trivial part of the gap is associated with occupational sorting. We consider three explanations for why occupational sorting emerges. First, we explore whether occupational sorting is driven by gender differences in preferences for non-monetary characteristics of the jobs. First, we explore whether occupational sorting is driven by gender differences in preferences for non-monetary characteristics of jobs and find that there are indeed differences between the genders in preferences for having a formal contract, insurance, paid leave and shorter hours, which may induce women to forego monetary compensation for these characteristics. Second, we check if occupational sorting among the adult labor force is driven by social norms about gender roles learned and internalized at an early age. To do so we check for evidence of sorting in the aspirations of 12-year-old children by simulating what the gender wage gap would be if boys and girls pursued the occupations they aspire to at 12. And third, for women with higher education, we check if occupational sorting occurs during the school to work transition - if women are less likely to find jobs within their field of study upon graduation. We do not find support for either the second or third hypotheses. Overall, our findings suggest that in Vietnam gender specific preferences for non-monetary job characteristics play a key role in emergence of occupational sorting.

Highlights

A gap in earnings between women and men in the labor force is a common empirical feature of the labor market in countries around the world
We expect that if (i) social norms mandate that some occupations are more suitable for men than for women, (ii) these occupations tend to be better remunerated, and (iii) if social norms play an important role in aspirations of the current generation, we will observe a gender wage gap in a simulated distribution of earnings, based on stated aspirations for future jobs, and median earnings that correspond to these jobs in the current Labor Force Surveys (LFS)
We establish that the gender wage gap persists in Vietnam despite the fact that women have achieved similar levels of education as men or even surpassed men at higher levels of education

Summary

Introduction

A gap in earnings between women and men in the labor force is a common empirical feature of the labor market in countries around the world. If differences in education levels do not play a role in explaining the gender wage gap in East Asian countries today, what factors are responsible for observed differences in wages between men and women? Sorting into different occupations occurs during school-to-work transition, because of gender specific barriers to finding jobs within one’s field of study We only test this hypothesis for individuals who have upper secondary, vocational or tertiary education, where specialization during study affects the types of jobs that are available.

Literature

Empirical strategy

Findings

Conclusions