The Paradox of Seclusion
Regional Differences in Female Employment and Wages in Urban India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17285334 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leila Gautham (0000-0001-9098-7272, University of Leeds, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-26 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Development Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0388 • E-ISSN: 1743-9140 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00220388.2026.2614508 |
| OpenAlex | W7125711669 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 26 |
Why are urban gender wage gaps lower in northern than in southern states of India, despite greater gender equality (in non-wage dimensions) in the south? I show that this is due to greater suppression of women’s low-wage employment in the north, resulting in stronger positive selection: selection-corrected gaps that impute wages for the non-employed based on observed and unobserved characteristics are similar for both north and south. I suggest that stronger social norms in the north that stigmatise women’s wage work produce lower employment rates, particularly among less-educated, low-wage women who do not have access to white-collar jobs. These patterns of participation introduce significant selection biases in the measurement of gender wage gaps and help explain why urban gender wage gaps are lower in the north.
Government (linguistics) · Unemployment · Wage · Work (physics) · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Social and Economic Development in India · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nepal
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The Impact of Selection into the Labor Force on the Gender Wage Gap
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The U.S. Gender Pay Gap in the 1990S
Development of the India Patriarchy Index
Kinship institutions and sex ratios in India
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Caste, Female Labor Supply, and the Gender Wage Gap in India
On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India
It Takes a Village
Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage
| Highly cited | No |
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