The public-private sector wage gap in Zambia in the 1990s: A quantile regression approach

Abstract

We investigate the determinants of wages in Zambia and based on the quantile regression approach, we analyze how their e¨ects di¨er at di¨er-ent points in the wage distribution and over time. We use three cross-sections of Zambian household data from the early nineties, which was a period of economic transition, because items as privatization and deregulation were on the political agenda. The focus is placed on the public-private sector wage gap, and the results show that this gap was relatively favorable for the low-skilled and less favorable for the high-skilled. This picture was further strengthened during the period 1991±1996.