DP4760 Do Markets Favour Women's Human Capital More Than Planners?

Author(s):	Daniel Münich, Jan Svejnar, Katherine Terrell
Publication Date:	November 2004
Keyword(s):	czech republic, human capital, sheepskin effects, transition, wages
JEL(s):	J24, J31, P20, P31
Programme Areas:	Labour Economics, Institutions and Economic Performance
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=4760

Using micro data on women in the Czech Republic, we compare returns to various measures of human capital at the end of communism (1989), in mid-transition (1996) and in late/post-transition (2002). We show: dramatic increases in returns to education from 1989 to 1996 but no change from 1996 to 2002; no differences in returns to education by state vs. privately-owned firms; ?sheepskin? effects in both regimes, which rise over time and are similar across firm ownership; no difference in returns to education obtained during communism vs. transition; no change in wage-experience profiles over time; and similar increases in returns to education for women and men. In sum, markets pay women and men equally more for their human capital than the planners did; all the adjustment occurred in early transition and was driven by market forces rather than private ownership.