Privatization in China: Technology and Gender in the Manufacturing Sector

Ana Dammert and Beyza Ural Marchand

No 2013-12, Working Papers from University of Alberta, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of privatization on gender discrimination in China across firms with different technology intensities. Using a comprehensive firm-level survey, the paper identifies gender wage-productivity differentials by directly estimating the relative productivity levels of workers from the production function of firms. The panel structure of the survey is taken advantage of by following firms that were fully state-owned in the initial year, and distinguishing them from firms that were later privatized. The main results show that privatization was associated with an increase in relative productivity of female workers in high technology industries, and a reduction in relative productivity of female workers in low technology industries. Time varying coefficient results suggest that the improvements in gender outcomes in high technology industries may not be maintained in the long run as the relative wage and productivity ratios tend to deteriorate, potentially due to low supply of highly educated female workers. At the same time, outcomes in privatized low technology industries tend to improve over time, lowering the wage and productivity gaps between male and female workers.

Keywords: Discrimination; Gender; Privatization; Technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J31 P20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2013-09-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-dem, nep-hme, nep-lab and nep-tra
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Related works:
Journal Article: PRIVATIZATION IN CHINA: TECHNOLOGY AND GENDER IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:albaec:2013_012

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