Male–female earnings differentials in early 20th century Manila

How might earnings of men and women have differed in poor countries a century ago? We know very little but a one-worker-in-ten labor market survey conducted in Manila in 1900 can help to establish baseline earnings patterns. In terms of raw means, women's earnings were about 30 percent less tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inExplorations in economic history Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 361 - 376
Main Authors Murray, John E., Keith, Kristen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Madison Elsevier Inc 01.10.2004
Elsevier
Elsevier BV
SeriesExplorations in Economic History
Subjects
Century in review
Earnings
Economic history
Gender
Men
Philippines
Wage differentials
Wages & salaries
Women
Manila Philippines
Philippines
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Summary:How might earnings of men and women have differed in poor countries a century ago? We know very little but a one-worker-in-ten labor market survey conducted in Manila in 1900 can help to establish baseline earnings patterns. In terms of raw means, women's earnings were about 30 percent less than men's, but both were distributed so that in some industries there were women who earned more than the average man. Controlling for hours, occupations and firm characteristics left female earnings discounts that varied by occupation from nothing to nearly half, ceteris paribus. Women workers concentrated in relatively skilled tobacco processing work, paid by the piece. Within this industry, productivity differentials were confounded by occupational segregation, however, in which men made the more expensive cigars and women the cheaper cigars and cigarettes.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0014-4983
1090-2457
DOI:10.1016/j.eeh.2003.12.001