Women's economic status in rural China: Household contributions to male-female disparities in the wage-labor market

Rapid industrial growth in China coupled with economic reforms in the rural areas has created a growing demand for rural women's labor, though often a t substantially lower wages than those earned by men employed in the same s ector. An analysis of data collected in rural Guangdong province suggests t hat households may contribute to the observed male-female market wage diffe rential through their influence in the formation of individuals' reservatio n wages. Under these circumstances, external employment opportunities, whil e no doubt serving to increase the household's overall level of income, may , on their own, be a less effective mechanism for raising the economic stat us of women. On the contrary, market wage signals may serve to reinforce, r ather than to ameliorate, sex-based differences that arise within the house hold. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.