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Gender Wage and Employment Gaps in the Sub-Saharan Africa Economic Sectors

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The Palgrave Handbook of Africa’s Economic Sectors

Abstract

This chapter reviews empirical studies on the examination of wage inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and provides theoretical background on market discrimination. Besides, it presents descriptive statistics addressing disparities in the labor market and human development outcomes. The descriptive statistics indicate significant gaps in employment and human development achievements with a declining trend over the past years. Moreover, the empirical review shows a significant amount of wage gap, which is higher in the informal and self-employment sectors. A large proportion of the gap remained unexplained by worker and job characteristics, reflecting rampant labor market discrimination against women. Selection across sectors, occupations, and firms and human capital differences in education and experience account for the majority of the explained wage gaps.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, River Falls, WI, USA

    Melaku Abegaz

  2. Department of Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, USA

    Gibson Nene

Authors
  1. Melaku Abegaz
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  2. Gibson Nene
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Correspondence to Melaku Abegaz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Pennsylvania State University DuBois, DuBois, PA, USA

    Evelyn F. Wamboye

  2. Department of Economics and Finance, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfeesboro, TN, USA

    Bichaka Fayissa

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Abegaz, M., Nene, G. (2022). Gender Wage and Employment Gaps in the Sub-Saharan Africa Economic Sectors. In: Wamboye, E.F., Fayissa, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Africa’s Economic Sectors. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75556-0_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75556-0_36

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-75555-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-75556-0

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

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