Public-private wage differentials in Turkey: public policy or market dynamics?

We evaluate public-private sector wage differentials by gender in Turkey between the years 2005 and 2013. Using micro data from Household Labor Force Surveys we find a positive premium for low wage earners and a penalty of working in the public sector at the higher end of the distribution. Although the penalty has not disappeared, the price effect has increased at both ends of the distribution. The increase at the lower tail is attributed to a higher price effect in the public sector, whereas at the higher tail it has been a result of a relatively uneven wage increase in the private sector along the distribution, rather than an explicit public wage policy.