Transcript Does it pay for Indigenous youth to go to school? Ethnic inequalities

How to Explain
Ethnic and Gender Employment
Disparities in New Caledonia?
Samuel Gorohouna and Catherine Ris
LARJE, University of New Caledonia
2014 STATE OF THE PACIFIC CONFERENCE
ANU 17-19 june 2014
New Caledonia
Specific political organization :
 Very large autonomy from France
 Engaged in an emancipation process (transfers of responsibility from the French state
to New Caledonia, referendum on the issue of independence)
NC differs from other French overseas territories and from other islands in the Pacific :
 One of the largest economies in the Pacific Island region
 High standard of living (GDP per capita comparable to New Zealand)
 High growth rate (3.3% per year between 2000 and 2011)
 High level of human development (HDI = 0.87)
Rich but Inequal: Geographic & ethnic Inequalities
Median income in
the South is 2.5
times higher than
in the Loyalty
Islands Province
Median income in
the South is twice
as high as in the
North Province
Population in 2009
Other 6%
Several
communitie
s 8% na 1%
Pacific
Islanders
12%
European
29%
Kanak 40%
Asian
3%
Ethnic Inequalities
Kanak have lower socio economic outcomes
than other New Caledonians
Graduated from
Higher Education
Unemployment rate
30%
25%
25%
20%
20%
15%
15%
10%
10%
5%
5%
0%
0%
Kanak
Non-Kanak
Kanak
Non-Kanak
The data
-NC: to analyze the evolution of the situation with regards
to education and employment for indigenous and nonindigenous people, we use:
1996 and 2009 Censuses (ISEE)
 Individual characteristics: gender, age, province of
residence, ethnicity, level of education etc.
random sample: 50 897 observations.
|Marginal effects | on the probabilities of Employment
Ethnic Gap Male
2009
1996
Ethnic Gap Female
Ethnic Gap Whole population
Gender gap Non-Kanak
Gender gap Kanak
Gender gap Whole population
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
Blinder Oaxaca decomposition
Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition : “explained” and “unexplained part” of
inequalities?
 the unexplained part of the gap in employment between Kanak and nonKanak remain almost the same between 1996 and 2009
 ethnicity seems to play a stronger role for men rather than for women.
“unexplained part”: other
explanations
Observed characteristics
- Social background
- Health
- Previous experience on the
labor market
- Number of children
Unobserved factors
- The potential lack of job-related
networks by family members and
friends
- Weaker motivation affected by
previous experiences in the
labour market, as experience or
perception of discrimination may
cause discouraged job seekers
Conclusions
 Differences are generally greater between genders than between ethnic
groups
 Estimates of the ethnic gap are larger for males than for females
Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition :
 ethnicity seems to play a stronger role for men rather than for women.
Thank you