Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit
Ghana is again experiencing large and chronic fiscal deficits that many analysts attribute to a sharp increase in its the public-sector wage bill. This study uses macroeconomic and household survey data to examine public employment and public wages both historically and in comparison with private-se...
| Autores principales: | , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2017
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146353 |
| _version_ | 1855530075042086912 |
|---|---|
| author | Younger, Stephen D. Osei-Assibey, Eric |
| author_browse | Osei-Assibey, Eric Younger, Stephen D. |
| author_facet | Younger, Stephen D. Osei-Assibey, Eric |
| author_sort | Younger, Stephen D. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Ghana is again experiencing large and chronic fiscal deficits that many analysts attribute to a sharp increase in its the public-sector wage bill. This study uses macroeconomic and household survey data to examine public employment and public wages both historically and in comparison with private-sector wages. Although we do find a public-sector wage premium in the most recent data (for 2012/2013), it is not as large as one would expect from the macro data, totaling only 15 to 28 percent of the public-sector wage bill, or 2 to 3 percent of gross domestic product. That is far from enough to eliminate the government deficit. To make further reductions in the wage bill, policymakers must either make the normative case that public-sector workers should be paid less than private-sector workers with similar qualifications, something that will be difficult politically, or they must adjust the required skill levels of public-sector employees downward, something that may not make administrative sense. There is some low-hanging fruit in the public-sector wage bill, but not enough to resolve Ghana’s fiscal crisis. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace146353 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1463532025-11-06T06:42:50Z Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit Younger, Stephen D. Osei-Assibey, Eric labour market public sector public debt fiscal policies remuneration Ghana is again experiencing large and chronic fiscal deficits that many analysts attribute to a sharp increase in its the public-sector wage bill. This study uses macroeconomic and household survey data to examine public employment and public wages both historically and in comparison with private-sector wages. Although we do find a public-sector wage premium in the most recent data (for 2012/2013), it is not as large as one would expect from the macro data, totaling only 15 to 28 percent of the public-sector wage bill, or 2 to 3 percent of gross domestic product. That is far from enough to eliminate the government deficit. To make further reductions in the wage bill, policymakers must either make the normative case that public-sector workers should be paid less than private-sector workers with similar qualifications, something that will be difficult politically, or they must adjust the required skill levels of public-sector employees downward, something that may not make administrative sense. There is some low-hanging fruit in the public-sector wage bill, but not enough to resolve Ghana’s fiscal crisis. 2017 2024-06-21T09:06:44Z 2024-06-21T09:06:44Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146353 en application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Younger, Stephen D.; and Osei-Assibey, Eric. 2017. Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1691. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146353 |
| spellingShingle | labour market public sector public debt fiscal policies remuneration Younger, Stephen D. Osei-Assibey, Eric Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| title | Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| title_full | Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| title_fullStr | Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| title_short | Are Ghana’s Public-Sector employees overpaid? Understanding the public/private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| title_sort | are ghana s public sector employees overpaid understanding the public private wage gap and its effect on the government deficit |
| topic | labour market public sector public debt fiscal policies remuneration |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146353 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT youngerstephend areghanaspublicsectoremployeesoverpaidunderstandingthepublicprivatewagegapanditseffectonthegovernmentdeficit AT oseiassibeyeric areghanaspublicsectoremployeesoverpaidunderstandingthepublicprivatewagegapanditseffectonthegovernmentdeficit |