Working Papers

The WNE Working Papers series has been published by the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw since 2008.

The WNE Working Papers series provides a fast, open channel for disseminating research conducted at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. The papers hosted here are working versions (pre-prints) and may evolve as authors refine their analyses, incorporate feedback, or progress through formal peer-review. What you read is the current version released by the authors, timestamped and assigned DOI/ISSN identifiers to ensure precise citation and version tracking. Copyright remains with the authors, who may, at any time, upload a revised file or add a note directing readers to a later, peer-reviewed publication.

The Working Papers series accepts articles by research employees of the Faculty and publications from conferences organised at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Articles should be original research papers which have not been previously published, on the subject of economics.

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Number of Results 3

WP(31/2014)148. Why are women paid less than men? An investigation into gender wage gap in Poland

Authors: Majchrowska Aleksandra, Strawiński Paweł, Konopczak Karolina, Skierska Agnieszka
Despite decades of anti-discriminatory legislation, wage discrimination against women is believed to be a major source of social inequality in the developed economies. In the present study we investigate the issue of gender wage gap in Poland. The an…

WP148. Why are women paid less than men? An investigation into gender wage gap in Poland

Despite decades of anti-discriminatory legislation, wage discrimination against women is believed to be a major source of social inequality in the developed economies. In the present study we investigate the issue of gender wage gap in Poland. The analysis is carried out both with regard to the labour market as a whole and in different occupational groups. We control for potential occupational segregation by including only groups with nearly balanced males-to-females ratio (0.4-0.6). The raw wage data suggest that in the case of most occupations women in Poland earn less than men. What is more, when controlling for individual and job characteristics relevant from the perspective of the labour market, the gender pay gap increases. Lower wages received by females cannot be, therefore, justified by lower productivity potential. On the contrary, despite better qualifications than in the case of men, women earn on average less, which points to the existence of gender discrimination in the Polish labour market.


Majchrowska Aleksandra, Strawiński Paweł, Konopczak Karolina, Skierska Agnieszka
wage inequality Mincer wage equation Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition gender wage gap Poland

WP(8/2009)18. Labour Market Racial Discrimination in South Africa Revisited

Authors: Szelewicki Maciej, Tyrowicz Joanna
Discrimination is a significant issue in labour market economics across developed as well as developing countries. In this paper we inquire the actual size of wage discrimination in the Republic of Soutn Africa, accounting for large differences in in…

WP18. Labour Market Racial Discrimination in South Africa Revisited

Discrimination is a significant issue in labour market economics across developed as well as developing countries. In this paper we inquire the actual size of wage discrimination in the Republic of Soutn Africa, accounting for large differences in individual endowments. We apply the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition as well as propensity score matching to adequately determine the role of discrimination in the wage gaps observed. Although the size of the absolute racial wage gap is enormous, amounting for more than 500%, the actual estimated effect non-attributable to other factors ranges between 45%-55%. This estimator, however, assumes homogenous discrimination across the wage distribution, while data suggest that there are significant educational, sectoral and occupational differentials. To account for these effects, we implement propensity score matching by finding 'statistical twins' of the White population among the Black population, thus we demonstrate how wages differ between these groups in comparable labour market situations. Here too we find that wages for the White are on average approximately 30%, while the effects vary at quartiles of the wage distribution.


Szelewicki Maciej, Tyrowicz Joanna
discrimination Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition propensity score matching Republic of South Africa racial wage gap

WP(7/2009)17. Shadow Employment In Transition - A Matter of Choice or No Choice?

Authors: Cichocki Stanisław, Tyrowicz Joanna
Shadow employment may follow from two main labour market failures. In the first, official market labour taxation distortions make it ineffective for some agents to engage in registered employment due to a tax wedge, which makes the revenues from unof…

WP17. Shadow Employment In Transition - A Matter of Choice or No Choice?

Shadow employment may follow from two main labour market failures. In the first, official market labour taxation distortions make it ineffective for some agents to engage in registered employment due to a tax wedge, which makes the revenues from unofficial employment higher than the corresponding official ones (tax evasion hypothesis). The alternative explanation draws to labour market tightness - for workers regular employment may be unattainable, which results in seeking earning opportunities beyond the boundaries of the official labour market (market segmentation hypothesis).
We use a unique data set from a survey on undeclared employment. Using propensity score matching and decomposition techniques we demonstrate that workers of the shadow economy are characterized by slightly higher endowments, while their revenues are considerably lower than among the matched official economy counterparts. Although unobservable heterogeneity is considerable, results are robust and point to social exclusion and the market segmentation hypothesis.


Cichocki Stanisław, Tyrowicz Joanna
shadow employment propensity score matching Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition transition Poland
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