Gender Wage Differences and Illicit Drug Use: Findings from Yunnan Province

Abstract

This work compares differences in income between men and women in Yunnan, a southwestern province in China, in 2003. The data collection, conducted by co-authors Yang and Luo, was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The focus is on how illicit drug use shapes gender wage differences. Little research has been conducted which examines how drug use shapes wage differences in China and the existing work that does explore this relationship in the United States yields mixed results. Utilising basic ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression analysis, differences in earnings (log income) were examined, controlling variables for drug use, experience, marital status, educational attainment, Communist Party membership and other background variables. The data provide supporting evidence that current drug users reported higher income compared to others, all else being equal.