Pay disparity and ethnicity: evidence for Belize men

This paper uses Labour Force Survey data from 2001 and 2005 to examine ethnic pay disparities in Belize. Empirical findings suggest that, the majority ethnic group, Mestizo, earned, on average, statistically less than the Creole, Garifuna and Mixed groups in both years. Most of the pay differential was attributable to endowment rather than treatment differentials. An important policy issue uncovered here relates to the labour market position of the minority Maya group. Our estimates suggest that this group's ceteris paribus disadvantage, relative to national average pay in Belize, widened from 18.2 percent below the average in 2001, to 27 percent below in 2005.