| 概要 |
In this study, we analyze the changes in wage premiums in Chile during 1996–2006, using national household survey data. We estimate wage equations by OLS and quantile regression and decompose the evolution of wage distribution into changes in covariates (explained effects) and changes in coefficients (unexplained effects), following the methodology proposed by Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux (2009). The estimation results show that returns to higher education, especially university education, decreased during this period and this decreasing trend is evident especially at the lower tail of the wage distribution. The regional wage differentials also deceased. The decomposition results are summarized as follows. First, at all the wage distribution points, the unexplained effects contribute to the changes in wage more than the explained effects do. Second, a decrease in the return to university education has negative impacts on wages at the upper tail of the wage distribution, while a quantitative increase in secondary education has positive impacts on wages at the lower tail and middle range. Finally, wages in the natural-resource-producing regions have increased, especially at the
lower tail and middle range. These findings suggest that natural-resource-intensive sectors succeeded in increasing wages for low and middle income groups and, therefore, in reducing regional wage differentials, while there is no clear evidence that skill-biased technological changes contributed to an increase in wages for higher income groups during the period under study. |