The debate on the relative benefits of upper secondary vocational education and of general education is still going. While this area of research has been very active in the United States and industrialized countries in recent years, empirical work in the Middle East countries still lacking. This study adds new evidence to that debate. The paper identifies factors that influence an individual's choice between vocational and general education in Egypt as well as the relative returns between them and beyond secondary levels. Using an ordered logit model, the study finds that an individual from a well educated family is more likely to undertake general education. The presence of young siblings in the household motivates the parents to send their daughters to vocational schooling, but not their sons. After correcting for self-selection, the study also finds vocational education to offer higher returns (earnings) than general secondary education does for men, but not for women. Sheepskin effect was also evident for men but not for women. ‫ﻣﻠﺨﺺ‬

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Abstract:This paper tests the impact of the Costa Rican minimum wage policy on wage inequality and the level of employment in the formal sector (covered by minimum wage legislation) and the informal (uncovered) sector. We also examine the redistributive effects of the minimum wage, between the covered sector and the uncovered sector. Regression analysis using micro data from the Labour Force Surveys over 17 years reveals three important findings. At the median, a unit increase in the minimum wage relative to the average wage is associated with: a) a reduction in wage inequality in the covered sector of between 0.9 percent (using the Gini) and 1.7 percent (using the Theil mean logarithmic deviation) and there is no effect on earnings inequality among the self-employed (using all measures); b) an increase in the level of covered sector employment by 0.56 percent, but no effect on the number of self-employed over time; c) an increase in the average number of hours worked per week by 0.14 percent in the covered sector and 0.34 percent in the uncovered sector.From a theoretical perspective, these finds are counter to the traditional competitive two-sector models of the minimum wage. We interpret them as supporting the monopsonistic and efficiency wage models of the labour market in those industries where the ratio of the minimum wage to the average wage ("toughness") is low but supports the traditional models in those industries where toughness is high. Given that we found overall employment to have increased, minimum wages could be seen as assisting the reallocation of labour from the traditional to the more modern sectors.

This paper adds to the existing literature on the Egyptian labor market by examining the extent to which the treatment of women in the Egyptian private labor market has evolved, and if occupational segregation has affected gender wage gaps in the newly transformed Egyptian economy. The paper tracks the current trend of gender based wage gaps, and evaluates the role of occupational segregation in explaining these gaps in the Egyptian private labor market. Comparing the years 2000 and 2004, and arranging occupations in three broad categories, findings of this study point to a wider occupational segregation and increased crowding of women in few jobs, which are becoming a more serious issue in pay differences than pure pay discrimination for both professional and blue collar women. Pay discrimination for white collar workers is not as severe as in professional and blue collar jobs. Therefore, policies that target inter-occupational components to close the wage gap may have far-reaching effects on professional and blue-collar workers, whereas policies targeting equal pay for equal jobs will have a greater success for white-collar workers.JEL Classifications: J71, J16, J24, J31 and C20

This study looks at factors affecting the decision of early retirement for Egyptian government sector employees. The empirical analysis is based on 2005 nationally representative sample of government sector workers. Among the findings of this study are: women are more likely to retire earlier than men; good health status is associated with longer stay on the job; the level of education is not a determining factor for women, but it is for men; men plan to work after their early retirement; the presence of the working wife has a positive effect on her husband to retire early, yet a working husband discourages his wife from retiring early. Policy implications discussed timing of the announcement of the plans; the potential outcome of excessive payouts, as well as the need for the government to provide early retirees with necessary skills and training to plan their after retirement years.JEL Codes: J18, J26, J33, C20, H55