This paper investigates the extent of gender earnings gap among informal labor market workers in Cameroon. We have used the 2010 employment and informal sector survey, the Heckman two-step bivariate selection model, and the Neuman–Oaxaca–Ransom decomposition framework to address these concerns. We find that, compared to men, women are more likely to make the joint decision of participating in the labor market and choosing informal work. Findings also reveal that among informal workers, male workers have an earnings premium over their female counterparts. Returns to informal labor market experience are solidly consistent in narrowing the gender earnings gap. Among the self-employed workers, male workers also enjoy an earnings premium. However, when the inverse Mills ratio is decomposed, the overall and the self-employed gender discrimination virtually disappears. Meanwhile, female wage earners enjoy a wage premium and have an unambiguous education-based advantage over their male counterparts. The implications of these findings support the wisdom that promoting the human capital development of the girl child would play a vital role in alleviating gender-based differentials by eroding sociocultural conventions and advancing women's agency.

中文翻译：

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喀麦隆非正规劳动力市场的男女收入差距

本文调查了喀麦隆非正规劳动力市场工人的性别收入差距程度。我们使用 2010 年就业和非正规部门调查、Heckman 两步双变量选择模型和 Neuman-Oaxaca-Ransom 分解框架来解决这些问题。我们发现，与男性相比，女性更可能做出参与劳动力市场和选择非正规工作的共同决定。调查结果还显示，在非正规工人中，男性工人的收入高于女性工人。非正规劳动力市场经验的回报在缩小性别收入差距方面非常一致。在个体经营者中，男性工人也享有收入溢价。然而，当逆米尔斯比被分解时，总体上和个体户的性别歧视几乎消失了。与此同时，女性工薪阶层享有工资溢价，并且与男性同行相比，具有明确的教育优势。这些发现的意义支持了这样一种智慧，即促进女童的人力资本发展将通过侵蚀社会文化习俗和促进妇女的能动性，在缓解基于性别的差异方面发挥重要作用。