and least educated self-employed between 1989 and 1995. Furthermore, adjusted wage differentials also decreased between women with college and secondary education, and between women with secondary and primary education (see Table 9b). Furthermore, the difference between the quantile regression estimates for a given education group (dummy) are smaller in the post-reform period in Argentina and Brazil. This implies that wage differentials within each educational group decreased between the pre- and postreform periods for self-employed women in these two countries. Estimates for Costa Rica are not conclusive since quantile regression estimates were not significant.

These results are similar to those obtained for salaried women: adjusted wage differentials between and within different education groups decreased in the post-reform periods.

# **_Skills_**

In Argentina, after controlling for other characteristics, there was a significant wage premium for specific skills on the job, which increased along the quantiles in both the pre- and post-reform years. As was the case for Argentine salaried women, the relative premium increased at all quantiles between these years. Similarly, the professional selfemployed in Brazil earned more than the non-professional self-employed did. However, in contrast to the patterns estimated for salaried women, the relative premium for Brazilian women decreased at all quantiles between the pre- and post-reform years.

In contrast to the findings for the salaried sector, self-employed women working in the manufacturing sector in Brazil earned less than (otherwise similar) self-employed working in retail, service and financial sectors. However, these adjusted wage differentials decreased at most quantiles (except at the **0 .90 th** quantile for women working in social services) between 1989 and 1995. On the other hand, there were significant sectorial wage differentials in Argentina only at the median and at some top quantiles between women working in the manufacturing sector and those in retail, finance and personal services. These wage differentials decreased for women in retail but increased for women wvorking in services (see Table 8b).<sup>3</sup>

# **_Eihnicity_**

After adjusting for other characteristics, we also find significant wage differentials between Brazilian self-employed women with different ethnic backgrounds. Like salaried women, black and mulatto self-employed women earned less than white self-employed women. Even though there was no clear pattern in the variation along the quantiles in each year, it is clear that the relative premium differential decreased at all quantiles between white and mulatto and at the higher quantiles between white and black between 1989 and 1995. On the other hand, and as was the case for salaried women, after controlling for other characteristics, there were no significant wage differentials between white and Asian self-employed.

# **_Maids_**

> **33** OLS estimates of these sectorial dummies were significant in 1988 but insignificant (except personal services) in 1997. This indicates that (adjusted) wage inequality arising from sectoral variation decreased at the mean.

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