Working toward Better Pay

Data and Descriptive Statistics

Figure 3.2 Average Education by Occupation Self-employment Private wage Public wage Student Unpaid family work Other unpaid/unemp/inact 0

Years Ghana

Tanzania

Source: World Bank; values arrived at using the Tanzanian and Ghanaian UPSs.

Figure 3.3a Mean Earnings by Occupation (Ghana) Self-employed without employees Self-employed with employees Private wage in small firm Private wage in large firm Civil service Public enterprise 0

100

150

GHS

Figure 3.3b Mean Earnings by Occupation (Tanzania)

Self-employed without employees Self-employed with employees Private wage in small firm Private wage in large firm Civil service Public enterprise 0

50,000

100,000 TZS

150,000

Source: World Bank; values arrived at using the Tanzanian and Ghanaian UPSs. Note: GHS = Ghana cedis; TZS = Tanzanian shillings.

Working toward Better Pay • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0207-2

200,000

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Working toward Better Pay

Published on May 30, 2014

World Bank Publications

"Improving the returns to labor for low-paid workers is a key policy challenge, especially in low-income countries (LICs) where earnings increases are the single most important source of poverty reduction and an important engine of shared prosperity. Yet, the understanding of individual earnings dynamics remains limited. The small—but growing—body of empirical literature on the factors leading to larger and faster pay increases points to strong persistence in earnings over time. However, it remains unclear to what extent this is due to differences in individual endowments rather than to the fact that being in low-paying jobs itself undermines future earnings prospects, and to what extent determinants of earnings vary across types of activities and sectors. The knowledge gap is particularly large for LICs due to the limited availability of reliable panel data. This study uses unusually rich longitudinal data from Ghana and Tanzania to identify engines of, and barriers to, earnings and e

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