The authors use 1993-94 and 1999-2000 India Employment and Unemployment surveys to investigate wage differentials between the public and private sectors as well as workers' decisions to join a particular sector. To obtain robust estimates of the wage differential, they apply three econometric...

Direct wage comparisons show that public-sector employees earn around 15% more than private-sector employees. But should these differences be interpreted as a "public-sector premium"? Two points need to be considered. First, the public and private sectors differ in the jobs they offer and the...

The share of female workers is significantly higher i the public than the private sector. This could be due to several reasons: different preferences towards job characteristics, or perhaps to lower discrimination against women in the public sector due to strict wage grids and hiring and...