Inequality of Opportunity in The Labor Market: Evidence from Sudan

Abstract

This paper examines the inequality of opportunity in the labor market in Sudan, using data of the Poverty Survey, 2014. A logit model is used with the dependent variable taking 1 if the person is employed and 0 otherwise. A set of circumstance variables are used as regressors, and ex-ante inequality of opportunity is calculated using the dissimilarity index and Shapley decomposition. Gender was associated with the largest share of inequality of opportunity, estimated at 73.41 percent. Gender-based inequality of opportunity in employment was assessed using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition methods. The findings reveal that the average probability of accessing employment is 0.87 for men and 0.59 for women, yielding a gap of 0.274. The difference between the average group characteristics of males and females was reflected in the coefficient of endowment (0.008), representing 2.9 percent of the total difference. The bulk of the gap is attributed to differences in circumstances, as indicated by the difference of 0.249 in the coefficients, representing 90.8 percent of the total difference. This difference is interpreted as discrimination. The results call for substantial reforms, not only in the labor market but, more importantly, with regard to circumstance variables over which the individuals have no control.