| According to the theory of labor economics, wage differentials always exist in the labor market. The wage differentials may result from disequilibrium of labor supply and demand, human capital differences, internal labor market etc. which are mostly necessary to the reasonable distribution of labor resources, not certainly arise from discrimination. From Becker's points, only when laborers with the same productivity characteristics receive different treatments from the labor market just because they belong to various groups, discrimination may occur. Based on the sources and mechanisms, discrimination can be classified into four types: individual bias, statistical bias, some uncompetitive forces in the labor market and premarket discrimination.In terms of measuring the degree of discrimination, Blinder (1973) and Oaxaca (1973) proposed an econometric approach of dividing wage differentials into differences in personal characteristics and differences from discrimination; Cotton (1988) suggested that differences from discrimination can be further divided into differences in pure treatment advantage and differences in pure treatment disadvantage; Incorporating occupational attainment in the male-female earnings differentials, Brown, Moon and Zoloth (1980) decomposed the differentials into unjustified differences in with-in occupation wages, justifiable with-in occupational wage differentials, justifiable and unjustifiable portions of occupational segregation.Using empirical survey data, many domestic scholars analyzed the wage differentials from different aspects and estimated the degree of discrimination. All the studies indicated that there are serious sectoral segregation, occupational segregation and wage discrimination in the labor market of urban China. Drawing on the full model of wage differential analysis of Brown et al. and the labor survey data of Jilin province conducted in 2006, the paper explores the gender wage differentials and the wage differentials between the local and migrant laborers in Jilin's urban labor market and analyzes the sources of these wage differentials and the degree of discrimination.As for the male-female wage differentials, after describing their individual personal characteristics, the results reveal that females are mostly occupied in low-earnings sectors and occupations while males are mostly occupied in high-earnings sectors and occupations; and that the females'average wages are much lower as compared to males', even when they are in the same sector or occupation, there is big gap between males'and females'wages. However, there are no significant differences in their human capitals, discrimination against females must exist in the labor market.Using the model of wage differential analysis of Brown et al., male-female wage differentials are investigated based on sectoral and occupational categories. First, ordinary least squares estimates of the parameters are computed for each gender-sector group and each gender-occupation group. The regression coefficients show that the educational degree and work experience are significantly positive to the level of wages. Secondly, a multinomial logit model is used to capture how certain variables affect the probability of individual working in each sector and occupation. The coefficients indicate that the education degree and work experience are helpful to overcome the obstacles of entering to the high-earnings sectors or high-earnings occupations, while the marital status reduces the probability of entering to the high-earnings sectors or occupations as compared to the reference group. Then employing males'coefficients of occupational attainment and sectoral attainment, we simulate females'occupational distribution and sectoral distribution, in the same way, employing females'coefficients of occupational attainment and sectoral attainment, we simulate males'occupational distribution and sectoral distribution. At last, after computing the mean personal characteristics of males and females occupied in all sectors and occupations, the wage decomposition proposed by Brown et al. is applied to analyze the gender wage differentials. The results reveal that the lion's share of wage differentials between females and males is attributable to discrimination with-in sector and with-in occupation rather than to the sectoral segregation and occupational segregation.As for the wage differentials between the local and migrant laborers caused by resident status, by inspecting the personal characteristics, we observe that there are obvious differences in sectoral and occupational distribution of the two laborers, migrants are mostly occupied in low-earnings sectors and occupations while the locals are mostly occupied in high-earnings sectors and occupations. The average wages of migrants in each sector or occupation are much lower than that of locals.Based on sectoral and occupational categories, the model of wage differentials analysis of Brown et al. is used to decompose wage differentials between the locals and the migrants again. First, the parameters for each sector and each occupation group of the laborers are estimated using ordinary least squares. The regression coefficients show that the educational degree and work experience are significantly positive to the level of wages. Secondly, a multinomial logit model is used to capture how certain variables affect the probability of individual working in each sector and occupation. The coefficients indicate that the degree of education and work experience are helpful to overcome the obstacles of entering to the high-earnings sectors or high-earnings occupations, while the marital status and being females reduce the probability of entering to the high-earnings sectors or occupations as compared to the reference group. Then employing local laborers'coefficients of sectoral attainment and occupational attainment, we simulate migrants'sectoral distribution and occupational distribution, in the same way, employing the coefficients of migrants, we simulate locals'sectoral distribution and occupational distribution. At last, after computing the mean personal characteristics of locals and migrants occupied in all sectors and occupations, the wage decomposition proposed by Brown et al. is also used to analyze the wage differentials between the local and migrant laborers. The results indicate that the wage differential is attributable to the differences in individual endowments, sectoral segregation, occupational segregation and the wage discrimination arising from resident status. |
