Unfair advantage : labor market discrimination in developing countries
Birdsall, Nancy | Sabot, Richard [editors]
This report concerns labor market discrimination. The studies apply, in African, Asian and Latin American settings, econometric tools developed to measure and analyze discrimination in high income countries. The studies are among the first to attempt rigorous analysis of discrimination in low income countries. Included are analyses of discrimination by caste, ethnicity and gender. Two overview essays summarize the findings of the country studies and compare them with each other and with the findings of research in high income countries. An attempt is made to arrive at some preliminary generalizations regarding the magnitude and nature of labor market discrimination in the developing world. The country studies represent a transfer of analytic technology from high income economies; the overview essays assess the appropriateness of the technology in this new setting. The introduction attempts to clarify what is meant by labor market discrimination. It specifies some of the equity, efficiency and non-instrumental costs of discrimination to society which justifies concern by policymakers. It then considers why, particularly in low income countries, competition among firms may not be sufficient to eliminate discrimination. The studies brought together in this book quantify wage, occupation and other status differences between men and women and among racial and ethnic groups in low-income countries.
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