TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Nguyen, Huu Chi
AU  - Nordman, Christophe Jalil
AU  - Roubaud, François
        TI  - Who Suffers the Penalty? A Panel Data Analysis of Earnings Gaps in Vietnam
        PY  - 2013/Jan/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 7149
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp7149
        AB  - In spite of its predominant economic weight in developing countries, little is known about the informal sector earnings structure compared to that of the formal sector. Taking advantage of the VHLSS dataset in Vietnam, in particular its three wave panel data (2002, 2004, 2006), we assess the magnitude of various formal-informal earnings gaps while addressing heterogeneity at three different levels: the worker, the job (wage employment vs. self-employment) and the earnings distribution. We estimate fixed effects and quantile regressions to control for unobserved individual characteristics. Our results suggest that the informal sector earnings gap highly depends on the workers' job status and on their relative position in the earnings distribution. Penalties may in some cases turn into premiums. By comparing our results with studies in other developing countries, we draw conclusions highlighting the Vietnam's labour market specificity.
        KW  - transition matrix
KW  - earnings gap
KW  - informal employment
KW  - panel data
KW  - Vietnam
        ER  -