This paper investigates the pattern of wages and wage inequality in Egypt over the period
1988-2012, a time of substantial economic and political changes, including the recent global
financial crises and the January 25th 2011 revolution. This analysis is based on four nationally
representative labor market surveys: the special round of the Egyptian Labor Force Sample
Survey (LFSS) carried out in October 1988, the 1998 Egypt Labor Market Survey (ELMS),
and the 2006 and 2012 rounds of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS). The
analysis in the paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 introduces the main stylized facts and
structural features of real wage and inequality in the Egyptian labor market during the recent
liberalization episodes. Section 3 describes the wage determination model used in calculating
wage differentials and returns to education. Section 4 discusses the wage estimation results,
while focusing on public-private and gender wage gaps and changes in returns to education
over the past decade. Finally, section 5 concludes and draws implications for the reform of
the labor market in the wake of the financial crisis.