The gender wage gap in developing and transition countries

The aim of my dissertation is to study the gender wage gap with a specific focus on developing and transition countries. In the first chapter I present the main existing theories proposed to analyse the gender wage gap and I review the empirical literature on the gender wage gap in developing and transition countries and its main findings. Then, I discuss the overall empirical issues related to the estimation of the gender wage gap and the issues specific to developing and transition countries. The second chapter is an empirical analysis of the gender wage gap in a developing countries, the Union of Comoros, using data from the multidimensional household budget survey “Enquete integrale auprès des ménages” (EIM) run in 2004. The interest of my work is to provide a benchmark analysis for further studies on the situation of women in the Comorian labour market and to contribute to the literature on gender wage gap in Africa by making available more information on the dynamics and mechanism of the gender wage gap, given the limited interest on the topic in this area of the world. The third chapter is an applied analysis of the gender wage gap in a transition country, Poland, using data from the Labour Force Survey (LSF) collected for the years 1994 and 2004. I provide a detailed examination of how gender earning differentials have changed over the period starting from 1994 to a more advanced transition phase in 2004, when market elements have become much more important in the functioning of the Polish economy than in the earlier phase. The main contribution of my dissertation is the application of the econometrical methodology that I describe in the beginning of the second chapter. First, I run a preliminary OLS and quantile regression analysis to estimate and describe the raw and conditional wage gaps along the distribution. Second, I estimate quantile regressions separately for males and females, in order to allow for different rewards to characteristics. Third, I proceed to decompose the raw wage gap estimated at the mean through the Oaxaca-Blinder (1973) procedure. In the second chapter I run a two-steps Heckman procedure by estimating a model of participation in the labour market which shows a significant selection bias for females. Forth, I apply the Machado-Mata (2005) techniques to extend the decomposition analysis at all points of the distribution. In Poland I can also implement the Juhn, Murphy and Pierce (1991) decomposition over the period 1994-2004, to account for effects to the pay gap due to changes in overall wage dispersion beyond Oaxaca’s standard decomposition.

Gender equality and human development in Macedonia during transition (1991-2006)

The present thesis treats the issue of gender equality in Macedonia during the period of transition from the socialist system to the one of parliamentary democracy. The main aim is to mainstream the gender perspective in the analysis of the transitional policies through the examination of the basic citizenship rights to which citizens are entitled and by the means of the evaluation of their capabilities to exercise these rights. Gender equality, as one of the main strongholds of the concept of human development is measured through the application of nine gender relevant capabilities in a Case study conducted within selected municipalities in the country. Through the analysis of the Macedonian constitutional and legal framework and the assessment of gender based inequalities, the research questions the need for the enactment of a process of engendering of citizenship, which would integrate gender based differences, contemplate the private sphere of citizens lives and pledge participation in the political life of the country. The thesis, finally, analyses the gender equality strategy of the Macedonian government with the purpose to evaluate whether it is context based, i.e. it tackles the main fields where inequalities emerge and in this context whether it envisages a process of engendering of citizenship.

International openness in transition countries: further evidence on foreign direct investment

The thesis focuses on the process of international openness of Transition Countries. This study provides a theoretical analysis based on reference literature, and an empirical analysis which is aimed at estimating some main effects of Foreign Direct Investment. Transition has represented a highly complex phenomenon, characterized by several aspects, whose interaction has shaped the developmental path of each country involved. Although the thesis focuses on economic issues it is outstanding to underline that Transition implies political, institutional, and even social deep changes, which must be taken into consideration in the general overview of the contex. The empirical part has been developed along two different ways: a country analysis and a firm analysis, thus allowing to widen the study and delve deeper into the use of econometric instruments. More specifically, in the first empirical stage both static (Fixed Effects) and dynamic (LSDV Corrected) methodologies have been implemented, whereas in the second stage the Cox Proportional Function has been chosen in order to handle with censored data.

Myanmar higher education in transition: the interplay between state authority, student politics and international actors.

The Myanmar “period of transition” (2011-2021) has often been described as a puzzle. Various scholars have begun to engage with the Myanmar context in an effort to grasp the essence of the transition it underwent during President Thein Sein’s USPD and Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD governments. My work focuses on a specific policy sector, higher education, with a view to contributing to this scholarly debate regarding what was actually happening inside this complex country “transition”, especially in terms of collective participation in the process of political and social change. Reviewing existing scholarly literature on the politics of higher education, my study employs a triangle of analysis in which higher education reform is framed as the interplay of action on the part of “state authority”, “student politics” and “international actors”. What does this interplay lens reveal if we consider Myanmar’s “period of transition”? I argue that it shows the ambiguity and contradiction of tangible pushes for progressive social change that coexisted with authoritarian currents and the reinforcement of the societal position of dominant elites. At the policy level, ultimately, a convergence of interests between international actors and state authority served as the force driving the new higher education reform towards a neo-liberal model of governance and autonomy. This work unpacks the higher education reform process thanks to qualitative data gathered through extensive participant observation, in-depth interviewing and critical discourse analysis, shedding light on the rich narratives of those involved in the politics of higher education in Myanmar.

Smart Farming in Italian agriculture: essays on adoption and diffusion dynamics shaping the agricultural digital transition

Smart Farming Technologies (SFT) is a term used to define the set of digital technologies able not only to control and manage the farm system, but also to connect it to the many disruptive digital applications posed at multiple links along the value chain. The adoption of SFT has been so far limited, with significant differences at country-levels and among different types of farms and farmers. The objective of this thesis is to analyze what factors contributes to shape the agricultural digital transition and to assess its potential impacts in the Italian agri-food system. Specifically, this overall research objective is approached under three different perspectives. Firstly, we carry out a review of the literature that focuses on the determinants of adoption of farm-level Management Information Systems (MIS), namely the most adopted smart farming solutions in Italy. Secondly, we run an empirical analysis on what factors are currently shaping the adoption of SFT in Italy. In doing so, we focus on the multi-process and multi-faceted aspects of the adoption, by overcoming the one-off binary approach often used to study adoption decisions. Finally, we adopt a forward-looking perspective to investigate what the socio-ethical implications of a diffused use of SFT might be. On the one hand, our results indicate that bigger, more structured farms with higher levels of commercial integration along the agri-food supply chain are those more likely to be early adopters. On the other hand, they highlight the need for the institutional and organizational environment around farms to more effectively support farmers in the digital transition. Moreover, the role of several other actors and actions are discussed and analyzed, by highlighting the key role of specific agri-food stakeholders and ad-hoc policies, with the aim to propose a clearer path towards an efficient, fair and inclusive digitalization of the agrifood sector.