Ownership sector segmentation and the gender wage gap in urban China during the 2000s

Abstract

This study explores the influence of market segmentation by type of firm ownership on the gender wage gap in urban China from 2002 to 2013. Data from the Chinese Household Income Project survey (CHIP2002 and CHIP2013) were used with a decomposition analysis based on the Brown et al. model. It is found that although both inter-sector differentials and intra-sector differentials affect the gender wage gap, the effect of intra-sector differentials was greater, and the influence of intra-sector differentials was greater for 2013 than for 2002. The influence of unexplained components of intra-sector differentials was greater than the explained components, and it was greater for 2013 than for 2002. The results indicate that the problem of discrimination against female workers in a given ownership sector is becoming more serious and was the main factor causing the gender wage gap expansion in urban China from 2002 to 2013.