CONTRIBUTION OF FAMILY AND PERSONAL TRAITS TO THE GENDER WAGE GAP: A SOURCE OF DISCRIMINATION OR EXPLANATION

Abstract

This paper investigates whether family and personal traits contribute to the gender wage gap as a source of explanation or discrimination. The empirical investigation is executed by applying Oaxaca (1973) decomposition technique on primary data collected from 1536 respondents at aggregate level for South Punjab and at disaggregate level for comparative analysis of each division. Oaxaca decomposition findings reveal that 91.31 percent discrimination by gender exists in South Punjab. The results confirm that education and occupation are the largest contributors to explain gender earning differential in the selected divisions. This study guides economists and policy makers to identify the focal points to minimize the earning differentials between male and female workers and also instigates the policy makers to promote in-discriminated country wide education to bridging earning differentials among the country nationals.