ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the distributional impact that gender wage differentials could have on poverty and income inequality in Cameroon. Among the major studies related to poverty or the labor market, there is one by the World Bank that focuses on social basic needs. Njinkeu et al. were interested in the dynamics of the labor market and Gbetnkom assessed the impact of trade liberalization on poverty. As is the case in some African economies, the Cameroon labor market too is segmented into four segments: public, private formal, informal non-agricultural and subsistence agricultural. Government enterprises and services provide public goods and are generally subject to political objectives, while private formal companies in principle work for the maximization of their profits. Agricultural and pastoral activities in which a large majority of the rural people were engaged were not profitable because the climate is very rough and also because the families are large.
