Ethnic income gap in the Puno region

Abstract

The objective of the study is to analyze whether the labor income gap between ethnic groups is due to differences in observable characteristics or could be attributable to discriminatory practices in the labor market of the Puno region. Using the database of the National Household Survey produced by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics between the years 2006 and 2015. Decomposing with the Blinder-Oaxaca method (1973), it is concluded that indigenous Puneños (quechuas and aymaras), despite being a majority group, perceived only 63.0% in 2006; and 53.0%, in 2015, of monthly or per capita labor income, in relation to non-indigenous people. The breakdown of the labor income gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Puneños during 2006 is explained by the allocation of assets (educational level, individual and household characteristics), while the unobservable characteristics have no influence whatsoever. However, this difference in income between the two groups is explained in 76.0%, in 2015, by the endowment of assets (educational level, individual and household characteristics) and by 24.0% due to unobservable characteristics or likely discrimination in the labor market Of the Puno region.