Gender wage gap in emerging markets and developing economies

The last decade has witnessed a rapid expansion of empirical work on gender wage gaps. This meta-analysis synthesizes 40 estimates for emerging and developing economies (1999–2021) using random-effects models, tests for publication selection, and a restricted maximum likelihood meta-regression with country-year covariates. The pooled underlying proportional gap is 28.5% in favor of men, with pronounced regional variation (about 18% in Latin America, 43% in Asia, and 30% in emerging Europe). Cross-study variation is systematically related to gender development, female unemployment, and article publication year.