Atypical Forms of Employments and Wage Gaps of Healthcare Workers in Urban Areas of Cameroon

In reference to the efficiency wage theory, the healthcare worker’s effort and the productivity of healthcare organizations are an increasing function of the salary. However, the liberalization policies implemented in the... [ view full abstract ]

In reference to the efficiency wage theory, the healthcare worker’s effort and the productivity of healthcare organizations are an increasing function of the salary. However, the liberalization policies implemented in the Cameroonian health sector and in the health workers labor market in 1990s have led to the development of atypical forms of employment in public and private health facilities. This paper aims to analyze the effect of atypical employments on the wage gaps of healthcare workers in urban areas of Cameroon by estimating a joint econometric model of wage determination and employments choice. Afterwards, the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of wages will be carried out. Data used were collected in 2013 as part of the project on "Working conditions of healthcare workers in urban areas of Cameroon" in collaboration with the African Population and Health Research Centre. As a result, atypical employments are found to be a basis of wage inequality for healthcare workers in urban areas of Cameroon. The hourly wage gaps are significantly different from zero between permanent and atypical employments. The wage of temporary healthcare workers is 15.24% lower than the one of permanent workers. The wage of the part time healthcare workers is 16.50% lower than the one of full time workers. These wage gaps are not explained by the differences in productive characteristics of healthcare workers but between 97.14% and 98.42% by the precariousness of the atypical jobs.