The impact of commute time on the gender wage gap: An empirical analysis

Abstract

The gender wage gap for the city of Santiago, Chile and its explained and unexplained portions are analysed using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition with data from CASEN 2017, the Chilean household survey. A novel feature of the analysis is the inclusion among the explanatory variables of commute time. Wage equations for men and women are estimated using three different methods: ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares and the Heckman selection model. The estimates of the gap vary depending on the method between 0% and 9%. The decomposition of the gap reveals that between 6% and 17% of the gap is unexplained (i.e., due to discrimination). Commute time is found to account for 10% to 47% of the logarithmic wage gap explained by worker characteristics.