A Comparative Analysis on Human Capital and Wage Structure in the Spanish Hospitality Sector

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the wage structures in the Spanish hospitality sector and other private service industries. Using data from the 2006 Spanish Wage Structure Survey (Encuesta de Estructura Salarial) [1], we estimate human capital returns in the hospitality industries. These results have been compared to those obtained in other private services. Education returns in these estimations are lower in the hospitality sector although there are sig- nificant differences between regions. Similar results were found for the other human capital variables used. Finally, the paper provides new empirical evidence on the regional wage gap in this sector. The main wage gap in the Canary Is- lands and the Madrid region is due to differences in returns in the observed variables, whereas in other regions most of the differences are due to the resources allocated.