Abstract:
The gender wage gap for the city of Santiago, Chile and its explained and unexplained
portions are analysed using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition with data from
CASEN 2017, the Chilean household survey. A novel feature of the analysis is the
inclusion among the explanatory variables of commute time. Wage equations for men
and women are estimated using three different methods: ordinary least squares, twostage least squares and the Heckman selection model. The estimates of the gap vary
depending on the method between 0% and 9%. The decomposition of the gap reveals
that between 6% and 17% of the gap is unexplained (i.e., due to discrimination).
Commute time is found to account for 10% to 47% of the logarithmic wage gap
explained by worker characteristics.
