Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T18:56:13.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Earnings differentials associated with sexual orientation in the Pakistan labour market

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Abdul Wahid ,
Edmund H Mantell  and
Oskar Kowalewski
Abdul Wahid
Affiliation:
National University of Modern Languages, Pakistan
Edmund H Mantell*
Affiliation:
Pace University, USA
Oskar Kowalewski
Affiliation:
IÉSEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 - LEM - Lille Économie Management, France Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
*
Edmund H Mantell, Department of Finance and Economics, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038-1598, USA. Email: Emantell@pace.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study addresses the question of whether self-identified LGBT status has some power to explain differences between the earnings of male LGTB workers and their occupational counterpart non-LGBT male workers in the Pakistan labour market. The Pakistan labour market is known to be ‘traditional’ in the sense that its operations and the attitudes of participants reflect the confluence of various sociological, political, religious, cultural and patriarchal systems. However, the quantitative significance, if any, of overt sexual orientation and its correlation with earnings remains unclear. This study addresses that question. We find that employed male workers in our sample who are known to be (or thought by employers to be) members of the LGBT community experience significant earnings disadvantages relative to counterpart heterosexual workers.

Keywords

J71Sexual orientationTraditional Labour Marketwage differentials
Type
Original Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , December 2022 , pp. 754 - 765
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdullah, MA, Zeeshan, B, Kamal, B , et al. (2012) Is social exclusion pushing the Pakistani hijras (transgenders) towards commercial sex work? A qualitative study. BMC International Health and Human Rights 12: 32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ahmed, (2010) Sexual practices of transgender community in Pakistan. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Epub ahead of print 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/aid.2010.9998.Google Scholar
Ali, S (2018) 500 Transgender people have been killed in Pakistan since 2015, SC told. Available at: https://www.samaa.tv/news/2018/09/500-transgender-people-have-been-killed-in-pakistan-since-2015-sc-told/ (accessed 9 March 2019).Google Scholar
Badgett, MVL (2003) Employment and sexual orientation: Disclosure and discrimination in the workplace. In: Garnets, LD, Kimmel, DC (eds) Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Experiences. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, pp. 327–348.Google Scholar
Bailey, J, Wallace, M, Wright, B (2013) Are gay men and lesbians discriminated against when applying for jobs? A four-city, internet-based field experiment. Journal of Homosexuality 60(6): 873–894.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begum Sadaquat, M, Sheikh, QA (2011) Employment situation of women in Pakistan. International Journal of Social Economics 38(2): 98–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blandford, JM (2007) The nexus of sexual orientation and gender in the determination of earnings. Industrial and Labour Relations Review 56(4): 622–642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, G, Lyons, M (2016) Discrimination of sexual orientation: Accuracy and confidence. Personality and Individual Differences 90: 260–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collumbien, M, Chow, J, Qureshi, AA , et al. (2008) Multiple risks among male and transgender sex workers in Pakistan. Journal of LGBT Health Research 4(2–3): 71–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D’Amico, E, Julien, D, Tremblay, N , et al. (2015) Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths coming out to their parents: Parental reactions and youths’ outcomes. Journal of GLBT Family Studies 11(5): 411–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delavande, A, Zafar, B (2013) Gender discrimination and social identity: Experimental evidence from urban Pakistan. FRB of New York staff report no. 593. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2198386 (accessed 9 October 2022).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drydakis, N (2020) Sexual orientation and earnings. A meta-analysis 2012-2020. IZA discussion paper no. 14496. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3874368 (accessed 8 October 2022).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, H, Zhang, W (2017) Employment non-discrimination acts and corporate innovation. Management Science, INFORMS, 63(9): 2982–2999.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2022) Inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) persons in the world of work: A learning guide. Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
Kazi, M, Anwar, S, Rani, B , et al. (2014) Poverty and social exclusion in Pakistan: Studying low income MSM/TG involved in opportunistic sex and their increased risks to get HIV. In: 20th international AIDS conference, Melbourne, Australia, 20–25 July.Google Scholar
Khan, FA (2014) Khwaja Sira: Culture, identity politics, and ‘transgender’ activism in Pakistan. In: Wadley, SS (ed.) South Asia in the World: An Introduction. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 170–184.Google Scholar
Köllen, T (2016) Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations: Global Perspectives on LGBT Workforce Diversity. Switzerland: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mamun, AA, Heyden, MLM, Yasser, QR (2016) Transgender individuals in Asian Islamic countries: An overview of workplace diversity and inclusion issues in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. In: Köllen, T (ed.) Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations: Global Perspectives on LGBT Workforce Diversity. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 167–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minority Rights Group International (2022) Pakistan. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Available at: https://minorityrights.org/country/pakistan/ (accessed 10 October 2022).Google Scholar
Population census (2017) Brief on census -2017. Available at: https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/brief-census-2017 Google Scholar
Sadiq, S, Bashir, A (2015) Relationship between perceived discrimination and depression: Moderating role of belief in just world among transgender in Punjab. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology 41(3): 203–211.Google Scholar
Sandfort, TGM, de Graaf, R, Bijl, RV (2003) Same-sex sexuality and quality of life: Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study. Archives of Sexual Behavior 32(1): 15–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, HBU, Rashid, F, Atif, I , et al. (2018) Challenges faced by marginalized communities such as transgenders in Pakistan. Pan African Medical Journal 30: 96.Google ScholarPubMed
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (2022) Human Development Index (HDI). United Nations Development Programme. Available at: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI (accessed 10 October 2022).Google Scholar