Bangladesh Development Studies Vol. XXXVI, December 2013, No.4 Measuring Sample Selection Corrected Gender Wage Gaps in India: 1993-94 to 2009-10 PANCHANAN DAS * * This paper examines gender discrimination in wages in India using the observed effect of productivity differences between women and men as viewed within the human capital theory. For the purpose, the study utilises micro-level information from the 50 th and 66 th rounds of the National Sample Survey (NSS). The data show that women participation rate in the job market is lower than that for men. As labour market participation is not likely to be random, wage equations have been estimated by applying Heckman’s selection model with two-step estimation techniques using pooled data of two independent samples taken from the two rounds. A substantial wage differential between men and women exists in the Indian labour market, both in rural and urban areas; but the difference has been declining during the post-reform period. The study observes substantial lower wage for women than for men at every educational standard and the wage gap increased significantly among women workers with higher level of education both in rural and urban areas during the period 1993-2010. Keywords: Gender Wage Inequality, Labour Market, India JEL Classification: C10, D33, J31, O18, R23 I. INTRODUCTION Earning differences among workers largely depend on the sector of the economy in which they are absorbed (Lewis 1954, Kuznets 1955). In Lewis (1954) model, earnings in the subsistence sector set a floor to wages in the capitalist sector, and there is a gap of roughly 30 per cent between capitalist wages and subsistence earnings. In this model, a part of the gap is illusory because of the higher cost of living in the capitalist sector. Kuznets (1955) further * Associate Professor of Economics, University of Calcutta, India. The author is thankful to Amiya Kumar Bagchi for valuable comments on early versions of this paper. He is indebted to the participants in the 2011 Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics at Udaipur, India. Some useful comments of Dr. Anindita Sengupta are gratefully acknowledged. The usual disclaimer applies. Email: daspanchanan@ymail.com