Wage Inequality in Developing Countries: An Examination of New Economic Geography Theory

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the manufacturing industry wage among selected developing countries based on new economic geography theory. More specifically, we use a panel data model to study the spatial structure of wages in 136 countries for the period 1998-2007. The results indicate that this theory provides a good description of the spatial structure of wages. We find that the market size and the distance-weighted have positive relationships with wage. However, the price of non-tradable goods has a negative effect on the spatial structure of wages. The result shows that the conditions governing the labor market is more important in explaining wage inequalities than the characteristics of labor or labor productivity.