EVIDENCE OF THE GENDER PRODUCTIVITY GAP IN THE BRAZILIAN TRANSFORMATION INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT This study analyzed the gender gap in the Brazilian manufacturing industry for different quantiles of male-female wage distribution. For that, we collected data from the PNAD and PIA corresponding to the period between 2003 and 2015 and applied Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to unconditional quantiles distributions. Our results indicate that the productivity level accounts for male-female wage differentials. Pay disadvantages for women at the top of income distributions will be lower as higher the productivity level of the industry in which they are employed. However, less productive industries show lower differentials for lower-skilled individuals and lower incomes, besides little female representation in managerial positions. Women have higher education level than men for all levels of productivity in the Brazilian manufacturing industry, but such qualification plays a more relevant role in reducing gender gap within the most productive levels.