Male Female Quality Differential in Informal Service Sector: A State Level Study from India

A number of studies, covering agricultural and industrial sector in India, reveal that female workers are usually ill paid compared to their male counterparts. In this study, we focus on wage-productivity differential between males and females in the unorganised service sector. It is found that contrary to usual belief, females in establishments are more productive than males while the opposite holds in the case of OAEs. However, females are always underpaid compared to the males. Despite increase in female productivity in some sectors due to commercialization, they are still discriminated against males. This is reflected in comparative shadow wages explainable by a number of socio-economic factors.