Determinantes de la diferencia salarial en el mercado laboral de Ecuador. Un estudio territorial

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the main determinants that affect the wage difference in the labor market for Ecuador in 2019, classifying the study into formal and informal workers. To carry out this study, wage differences are estimated through econometric decompositions based on data from the employment and unemployment survey for the five main cities of Ecuador. The applied methodology is based on reweighting techniques together with estimates of recentered influence function (RIF) models. Among the main findings, they show that the salary differences were justified by the characteristics of the individuals and by the productive structure. In addition, it is shown that Guayaquil is the city with the largest wage gap in the formal labor market, while in Cuenca, the largest differences in wage are registered in informal workers. The key factors that mainly explain the salary gap are: education, the size of the company and the branch of activity. This evidence shows the great job insecurity that exists in the different territories of Ecuador, highlighting the need for greater productive convergence driven by labor reforms that promote access to formal work and encourage private investment