ECONOMIC GROWTH CENTER
                                
                        YALE UNIVERSITY
                                
                                
                        P.O. Box 208269
                      27 Hillhouse Avenue
               New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8269
                                
                                
                                
                                
                CENTER DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 797
                                
                                
                                
                                
      PUBLIC-PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT CHOICE, WAGE DIFFERENTIALS
                      AND GENDER IN TURKEY
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                          Aysit Tansel
                                
      Yale University and Middle East Technical University
                                
                                
                                
                                
                         February 1999

     




Note: Center Discussion Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussions and
      critical comments.




      Public-Private Employment Choice, Wage Differentials
                      and Gender in Turkey
                               by
                          Aysit Tansel
                Middle East Technical University
                      06531 Ankara, Turkey
                  Telephone: 90-312-210 20 57
                     Fax: 90-312-210 12 44
            e-mail:  atansel@rorqual.cc.metu.edu.tr
                           April 1998
                    Revised:  February 1999
        Key Words: Public-Private Wages; gender; Turkey
                    JEL Codes: J31, J45, J16



Abstract:

There is no evidence on the extent of public versus private wage differentials in Turkey.  The main
objective of this paper is to examine the factors which explain the employment choice and the wage
differentials in the public administration, state owned enterprises and the formal private wage sector
in Turkey.  Selectivity corrected wage equations are estimated for each sector for men and women
separately.  Oaxaca decomposition of the wage differentials between sectors for men and women are
carried out.  For this purpose, results of the 1994 Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the
State Institute of Statistics are used.  The results indicate that when controlled for observed
characteristics and sample selection, for men, public administration wages are at parity or lower than
private sector wages in particular at the university level.  State Economic Enterprise wages for men
are higher than private sector wages except at the university level.  Opposite results are obtained for
women: their wages are at par or higher in public administration than in the private sector.  Further,
while men's and women's wages are at parity in public administration, there is a large gender wage-
gap in the private sector.  Lower private returns to schooling are found in public than in the private
sector.