dc.description.abstract | In developed countries, the gap between male and female pay has been reducing
significantly due to legislations and regulations making it more equalised in certain
professions. However, globally, the gap is widening, and even where the gap is reducing,
it is very slow. Using the World Bank's (2013) Skills Towards Employability and
Productivity Survey (2013), this study seeks to examine inter-industry gender wage
differentials in Kenya by adopting the (Fields & Wolff, 1995) and (Horrace & Oaxaca,
2001) to capture inter-industry male-female pay variations. The results of the inter-industry
gender wage differentials reveal that even after accounting for personal characteristics, pay
differences between male and female workers across the industries (except in the
agriculture, fishery, and mining sector) women still receive less pay than men. In the
commerce and trade sector, men’s wages were 27.2% higher than that of women and based
on counterfactual analysis their earnings would increase by 17.5% if women’s had the same
characteristics as men. In the services sector men earned 28.5% higher than women and
that women’s wages would increase by 22.0% if women’s had the same characteristics as
men. In the manufacturing and construction sector, men earned 23.1% more than women
and based on counterfactual analysis their earnings would increase by 18.4% if they had
the same characteristics as men. Admittedly, we find evidence of gender penalty in
Kenya’s labour market as there exists inter-industry gender wage differentials explained
less by the observable characteristics; age, marital status, experience, tenure, education,
profession, and sector of employment. | en_US |