Wage differential by disability status in an agrarian labour market in India

Abstract

This article is the first to estimate the magnitude and determinants of a wage differential by disability status in the context of an agrarian labour market through a wage decomposition method. In rural Uttar Pradesh, India, we find evidence of an unexplained wage gap in favour of nondisabled men of 8% after controlling for selection bias into employment and using different reference groups for wage decomposition.

Acknowledgements

The funding support of Fordham University through a faculty research grant and the World Bank for the conduct of this study is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed should not be attributed to the World Bank or any other organizations.

Notes

¹ A review of these studies is in Baldwin and Johnson (2005).

² For instance, see Reddy and Chandrashekar (1998) for a meta-analysis of the prevalence of mental impairments in India estimated at 5.8% and Dandona and Dandona (2001) on the prevalence of blindness estimated at 1.3%.

³ Almost all household heads had negative attitudes on the employment of persons with mental disabilities. This information was thus, not used to construct the negative attitude variable.