Working Papers
What Forms Gender Wage Gap in Belarus?
In this paper we focus on estimating the gender difference in wages using data from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) conducted in Belarus in 2017. The results show that the average gender wage differential amounts to 22.6%. We use quantile regressions to look at difference in returns at various earnings deciles and then the Oaxaca-Blinder and Juhn-Murphy-Pierce decomposition techniques to define the components that form the wage gap. We find that the adjusted gender pay gap is mostly formed by the difference in rewards rather than personal characteristics. The gap increases throughout the wage distribution and accelerates at the top deciles indicating presence of a strong glass ceiling effect. However, the distinction between private and state sectors demonstrate existence of the glass ceiling only in the public segment. The reduction of the pay gap in the lowest part of distribution is partly attributed to the endowments' component compensating women for their discrimination in the market as well as because of the minimum wage policy implemented by the state.