Gender Pay Discrimination in Mauritius : A Quantile Regression Approach

Mauritius is highly regarded in Africa for its sound governance structures, attractive business climate and promotion of gender equity. Based on data from the Household Budget Survey 2001/02, the present paper investigates gender pay discrimination in Mauritius a decade ago at the mean and at selected quantiles of the earnings distribution. Almost three-quarters of the difference in the earnings of the average man and the average woman are due to gender discrimination. A deeper analysis using quantile regressions reveals that gender discrimination is a major explanation behind the gender pay gap in the case of low-earnings and mid-earnings workers up to the 75th quantile of the earnings distribution. However, workers at the top of the earnings distribution at the 90th quantile experience reverse gender discrimination in that the reward to attributes is better for women than for men. The main explanation behind the gender pay gap in the case of high-earnings workers is a strong selection bias in favour of men. The government has a key role to play in the eradication of gender-based discriminatory and selective practices which also lead to a sub-optimal situation from an economic perspective. The recent setting-up of the Equal Opportunities Commission is a step in the right direction