The gender wage gap in Egypt: public versus private sector

Abstract

PurposeAfter the decision of the Egyptian government to adhere to the Equal Pay International Coalition in 2020, a great deal needs to be done to guarantee ‘equal pay for equal work’. The authors provide a comprehensive, in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the gender wage gap in Egypt, as well as its evolution over the last 20 years, disaggregated by public and private sector. The authors also provide an analysis of the cultural determinants of Egypt's low female participation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition (with sample selection) to assess the gender wage gap at the mean of the wage distribution in the public and private sector. The authors also implement a re-centred influence function decomposition to assess the extent of ‘discrimination’ along the wage distribution in both sectors. An inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment procedure is used to assess the joint impact of gender and firm-ownership. A female participation equation taking into account gender equality attitude is provided.FindingsThe authors find a sizable and increasing gender wage gap in the private sector almost entirely due to ‘discrimination’. The authors also find evidence of a sticky floor in the private sector and a glass ceiling in the public one. Cultural barriers play a major role in determining female participation.Originality/valueThis is the first paper on the evolution of gender equality in Egypt that takes into account the effect of the 'Arab Spring’ of 2011. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is also the first time that an IPWRA procedure is applied to study the interaction effect of gender and firm-ownership.