Publication: Gender Earnings Gap in the Formal Labor Market in Turkey
Loading...
Date
2015-12
ISSN
Published
2015-12
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Gender disparities in Turkey remain considerable despite Turkish government’s recent public policy initiatives aimed at increasing gender equity in Turkey. Overall gender equity ranking of Turkey in the gender gap 2012 report. Gender equity is identified as a key area in the 2012-2015 country partnership strategy of the World Bank Group (WBG) in Turkey. One of the projects initiated to move WBG’s gender agenda in Turkey further is the technical assistance project on promoting gender equity in labor markets and entrepreneurship. Using novel datasets, this study aims to contribute to the project through providing a better understanding of different dimensions of the gender gap in employment and particularly earnings. Key findings of this paper are as follows: (i) the gap between men and women in participation emerges with the early exit of women, particularly those low educated, after marriage; (ii) partly due to exit of low educated women after marriage, female employees, on average, have less work experience than male employees; (iii) compared to men, women work in higher paying sectors, sub-sectors, and firms within sub-sectors. Yet, women earn less than the men working in the same firm; (iv) female employees are more concentrated in larger firms especially in the East and the North regions of the country; and (v) once all observable characteristics are taken into account, it is hard to argue that earnings discrimination against women in the formal labor market of Turkey is large. Section one gives introduction. Section two and three are dedicated to the investigation of gender gap in labor market participation. Section four and five analyze the gender gap in earnings. Section six presents conclusion and policy implications.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Cebeci, Tolga. 2015. Gender Earnings Gap in the Formal Labor Market in Turkey. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25365 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Good Jobs in Turkey(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-11)This joint study, by the World Bank and the Turkish Ministry of Development, explores the status and effects of good jobs in Turkey s current economy. After a brief account of economic events, it examines the relationship between growth and employment in Turkey, with a particular regard to the participation of different social groups in the labor market, such as women and youth. It then analyzes where jobs are being created and which activities are the most productive for the Turkish economy, and assesses if jobs have moved to more productive activities in recent years. Finally, the report proceeds to measure the impact of different types of jobs on the welfare of an entire household and on the household s relative position in the overall income distribution.Publication Recent Labor Market Performance in Vietnam through a Gender Lens(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05)This paper provides an overview of the recent performance of the labor market in Vietnam during the Great Recession. The analysis uses data from the Labor Force Survey and the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. The author finds that, notwithstanding the global crisis and domestic volatility, job creation has been sustained in Vietnam, especially in the formal sector, but that the overall quality of employment has suffered. Gender differentials are found to affect older women especially, while educated women benefit from a skills wage premium. Reassuringly given the large youth share of the total workforce, the youth labor market is dynamic and outcomes for youths have improved. Meanwhile, participation in poverty alleviation programs and labor market programs has not changed, and few workers use the newly created employment services and unemployment benefits.Publication Gender Inequality in the Labor Market in Serbia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-03)This paper presents a broad overview of labor market indicators for men and women in Serbia with a focus on employment patterns, entrepreneurship and career advancement as well as earnings differentials. The analysis relies primarily on the results of the Labor Force Surveys conducted in Serbia in April 2008 and October 2009. The findings show that although the overall labor market situation in Serbia is difficult, women are in a much more disadvantageous position than men. Women are much less likely to be employed, start a business or advance in the political arena. Furthermore, there is a significant wage gap between men and women in a number of sectors and occupational groups with low educated women being particularly disadvantaged. The results of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition demonstrate that the wage gap is indicative of discrimination of women in the labor market as earnings differentials cannot be explained by differences in observed characteristics of male and female employees. Based on the obtained results, the paper outlines four broad areas that require the attention of policy-makers: employment generation; enhancement of education outcomes; improvement of the regulatory environment and support to women's business and political careers; and promotion of transparent performance setting mechanisms.Publication Performance of Female Employers in Turkey(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-12)It is well documented that economic participation of women is very low in Turkey compared to that of men in the country. This gender disparity in economic participation is valid not only for participation in the labor market as a wage employee but also for entrepreneurship. Using European Union statistics on income and living conditions (SILC) dataset, this paper attempts to provide new insights on the high gender disparity in entrepreneurship in Turkey with giving special emphasis to distinguishing characteristics of successful female employers. SILC dataset covers the 2007-2010 period. This paper focuses on employers due to its importance over own-account workers (OAW) in creating jobs and increasing the impact of women in the economy. All tables and figure in this paper make use of the SILC dataset. The paper documents that female employers are in minority in Turkey not only among all working women but also among all employers in the economy. Moreover, female employers earn less than their male counterparts and their firms are generally smaller. As for their background, there is a low churning among female employers and majority of new female employers are transformed from inactivity and very few from wage employment. The paper confirms the importance of university education in closing gender gap. Proportional income gap between male and female employers is lowest among university graduates and highest among primary school and vocational high school graduates. It is also noteworthy that female employers are less educated than female full-time employers but male employers are more educated than full-time male employees. Section one gives introduction. Section two presents characteristics of female employers in comparison to male employers and other female work groups. Section three evaluates the success of female employers in terms of income they generate. Section four presents features of successful female employers. Section five discusses results and concludes.Publication Earnings Inequality Within and Across Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Groups in Four Latin American Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-04)Latin American countries are generally characterized as displaying high income and earnings inequality overall along with high inequality by gender, race, and ethnicity. However, the latter phenomenon is not a major contributor to the former phenomenon. Using household survey data from four Latin American countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, and Guyana) for which stratification by race or ethnicity is possible, this paper demonstrates (using Theil index decompositions as well as Gini indices, and 90/10 and 50/10 percentile comparisons) that within-group earnings inequality rather than between-group earnings inequality is the main contributor to overall earnings inequality. Simulations in which the relatively disadvantaged gender and/or racial/ethnic group is treated as if it were the relatively advantaged group tend to reduce overall earnings inequality measures only slightly and in some cases have the effect of increasing earnings inequality measures.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Supporting Youth at Risk(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)The World Bank has produced this policy Toolkit in response to a growing demand from our government clients and partners for advice on how to create and implement effective policies for at-risk youth. The author has highlighted 22 policies (six core policies, nine promising policies, and seven general policies) that have been effective in addressing the following five key risk areas for young people around the world: (i) youth unemployment, underemployment, and lack of formal sector employment; (ii) early school leaving; (iii) risky sexual behavior leading to early childbearing and HIV/AIDS; (iv) crime and violence; and (v) substance abuse. The objective of this Toolkit is to serve as a practical guide for policy makers in middle-income countries as well as professionals working within the area of youth development on how to develop and implement an effective policy portfolio to foster healthy and positive youth development.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2024: Better Education for Stronger Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-17)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to moderate from 3.5 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent this year. This is significantly weaker than the 4.1 percent average growth in 2000-19. Growth this year is driven by expansionary fiscal policies and strong private consumption. External demand is less favorable because of weak economic expansion in major trading partners, like the European Union. Growth is likely to slow further in 2025, mostly because of the easing of expansion in the Russian Federation and Turkiye. This Europe and Central Asia Economic Update calls for a major overhaul of education systems across the region, particularly higher education, to unleash the talent needed to reinvigorate growth and boost convergence with high-income countries. Universities in the region suffer from poor management, outdated curricula, and inadequate funding and infrastructure. A mismatch between graduates' skills and the skills employers are seeking leads to wasted potential and contributes to the region's brain drain. Reversing the decline in the quality of education will require prioritizing improvements in teacher training, updated curricula, and investment in educational infrastructure. In higher education, reforms are needed to consolidate university systems, integrate them with research centers, and provide reskilling opportunities for adult workers.Publication World Development Report 1984(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984)Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.