Wage Inequality and Returns to Education in Turkey: A Quantile Regression Analysis

What is it about?

This paper investigates the male wage inequality and its evolution over the 1994–2002 period in Turkey by estimating Mincerian wage equations using ordinary least squares and quantile regression techniques. Male wage inequality is high in Turkey.While it declined at the lower end of the wage distribution it increased at the top end of wage distribution. Education contributed to higher wage inequality through both within and between dimensions.The within-groups inequality increased and between-groups inequality decreased over the study period.

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Why is it important?

Wages constitute the largest component of individual income.An understanding of the evolution of wages and the level of wage inequality is essential for an understanding of the labor market dynamics in relation to internal migration, poverty or monetary incentives facing the workers and the young.

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