Analysis of wage differentials by gender and ethnicity in the public sector

This study investigates the source of wage differentials between blacks, Hispanics, and whites, and between women and men, in metropolitan Dade County (Florida) government, and draws out the implications of this analysis for affirmative action planning. Our distinctive finding is that the primary factor causing observed wage differentials by ethnicity is the sorting of people across occupational categories. Wage decompositions reveal that for males, 70 percent, 88 percent, and 47 percent of the wage gaps between white and black, white and Hispanic, and Hispanic and black, respectively, are attributable to occupation. For females, the corresponding figures are 56 percent, 58 percent, and 51 percent. When comparing men and women of the same ethnic group, occupational employment patterns are found to be an important factor accounting for lower average female wages, yet within major occupational groups women seem to be receiving higher wages (on average) than men.     

A longitudinal analysis of racial wage differentials for young nonfarm rural workers

A longitudinal data base is used to estimate racial wage differentials for young nonfarm rural workers for 1968, 1973, and 1978. The empirical results indicate the existence of large wage differentials between young white and young black nonfarm rural workers of both sexes. The results also indicate that the wage differential for young men has increased over time while the differential for young women has decreased slightly over time.     

Is education the panacea for economic deprivation of Muslims?: Evidence from wage earners in India, 1987–2005

Few researchers have examined the nature and determinants of earnings differentials among religious groups, and none has been undertaken in the context of conflict-prone multi-religious societies like the one in India. We address this lacuna in the literature by examining the differences in the average log earnings of Hindu and Muslim wage earners in India, during the 1987–2005 period. Our results indicate that education differences between Hindu and Muslim wage earners, especially differences in the proportion of wage earners with tertiary education, are largely responsible for the differences in the average log earnings of the two religious groups across the years. By contrast, differences in the returns to education do not explain the aforementioned difference in average log earnings. In conclusion, we discuss some policy implications.     

Labor force competition and the black-white wage gap

Have the increasing numbers of women and immigrants in the U.S. labor force adversely affected the relative earnings of black men? A recent article in this journal argued that they have, based on empirical analysis of 1970 census data. The present study begins with a critique of both the theoretical assumptions and the empirical methods of this earlier article. A regression analysis of 1980 census data is then undertaken, which indicates that recent immigration has not had a negative impact on the relative wages of central-city black men. The findings also suggest that while higher rates of female labor force participation are statistically associated with lower black-white wage ratios, this effect is limited to teenagers.     

Assessing black progress: employment,occupation, earnings,income, poverty

Farley discusses changes in employment, occupation, earnings, income, and poverty among US blacks. Among black men, there has been a persistent rise in unemployment since 1960. By the early 1980s, 1 black man out of 8 had dropped out of the labor force, compared to 1 in 20 white men. Some contend that many black men lack the skills to be employed or have personal habits and criminal records which make them unacceptable to employers. Others believe that the expansion of federal welfare programs offers attractive alternatives to men who have limited earnings potential. Still others stress that blacks are concentrated within cities, while the growth of employment is occurring in suburbs. Among those blacks over age 54, labor force participation has declined because of improved Social Security benefits, better private pensions, and the greater availability of Supplemental Security Income. The employment of young blacks compared to whites has deteriorated since 1960. For both races, there has been a steady rise in the employment of women. The recent increases, however, have been great for whites. By the early 1980s, white women caught up with black women in terms of employment. Unlike the indicators of employment itself, there is unambiguous evidence that the occupational distribution of employed blacks has been upgraded and is gradually becoming similar to that of whites. Findings from many studies show that blacks once earned much less than similar whites, but this racial difference has declined among men and has nearly disappeared among women. The proportion of blacks impoverished fell sharply in the 1960s, reaching a minimum of 30% in the early 1970s. Since the early 1970s, blacks have made few gains. The proportion impoverished actually increased and the ratio of black-to-white family income declined. The fact that the earnings of black males are no longer rising faster than those of whites and that there is no longer a migration from southern farms to cities plays a role, but changes in family structure are also important. At all dates, poverty rates have been high and income levels low in families headed by women. In 1984, for example, 52% of the black families with a woman as head of household were below the poverty line, compared to 15% of the black married-couple families. While similar trends are occurring in white families, there has been a sharper increase in the proportion of blacks living in these female-maintained families which have high poverty rates.     

WAGES THROUGH BOOMS AND RECESSIONS: A CASE STUDY OF ZIMBABWE

This paper examines developments in the wage system in Zimbabwe. The analysis focuses on the wage formation process and wage differentials. The paper observes that real wages have been flexible and have fallen sharply. Wage inflexibility is thus ruled out as a cause of unemployment. The collapse of wages has given rise to non‐standard labour market practices as workers try to cushion themselves against rapid wage declines. Wages also exhibit wide gender, racial and occupational differentials. The paper also argues that a wage policy in Zimbabwe must be pillared on decentralised, coordinated and synchronised collective bargaining.     

Wage Dynamics and Racial and Ethnic Occupational Segregation Among Less-Educated Men in Metropolitan Labor Markets

We assess whether occupational segregation in metropolitan labor markets is associated with the wages of, and contributes to racial/ethnic wage disparities among, less-educated men. To measure occupational segregation in metropolitan low wage markets, we create a segregation index measuring segregation between white, black, and Latino male high school-only educated workers and high school dropouts in 95 metropolitan labor markets utilizing a unique dataset of the structural characteristics of the ninety-five largest US metropolitan labor markets. We use regression, fixed effects, and generalized least squares estimation techniques to test whether this index is associated with wages and racial wage inequality among these men. The analyses reveal that in metropolitan labor markets characterized by more racial and ethnic segmentation in the low wage market, wages are lower among black and Latino men in particular, and racial-ethnic wage disparities among similarly less-educated white, black, and Latino men are higher.     

Literacy Skills and Earnings: Race and Gender Differences

This study examines differences in returns to literacy skills on earnings of black and white men and women. Literacy skill is a composite measure of three scales: reading comprehension, document literacy (the ability to locate and use information in, say, tables and graphs), and mathematics proficiency. Using data from the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), we estimate earnings determination models separately for each racial/gender group. Our findings show that the effect of literacy on earnings varies by race and gender. Literacy skills favorably rewarded black men relative to black women and white men and women, net of education and other relevant variables. More importantly, literacy completely explained the effect of a high school diploma and some college on earnings of black men. We conclude that the economic importance of literacy skills is particularly salient for less-educated black men.     

Employment and Earnings: A Case Study of Urban Detroit

This paper investigates the roles of manufacturing employment, neighborhood poverty, and family structure in determining wages among Detroit, MI workers, just prior to the current economic crisis. Employment in manufacturing has been crucial for blacks and whites: 39% of black and of white men in the Detroit metropolitan area worked in manufacturing in 2000. Regression analysis in this paper estimates employment in manufacturing raised wages 15.8% for all workers in the metropolitan area, 24.4% for blacks and 13.8% for whites. It finds a higher wage penalty (4.7%) for blacks in non-manufacturing industries than is found when manufacturing sector jobs are included (2.6%). Wage returns to education were greater in the non-manufacturing employment sector, especially for blacks. Residence in the poorest central city neighborhoods reduced wages significantly for white manufacturing and non-manufacturing workers. Its coefficient was insignificant for black workers. Gender and marital status effects on wages differed between blacks and whites in magnitude: White women suffered a larger penalty for their sex than black women (22.6 versus 9.6%) yet black men enjoyed a greater return to marriage than white men (27.5 versus 25.0%). Controlling for manufacturing reduced the gender wage gap and the returns to marriage for men. These findings suggest greater accessibility for women; and lower returns to marriage in non-manufacturing sectors. Among employed blacks access to manufacturing jobs has been their main source of decent wages. The adverse effects of the industry??s job loss in the 1980s and 1990s impacted all Detroit residents. Other high wage industries have employed relatively few blacks, have not paid them well; and have suffered job loss and slow growth over the period. Education could have raised wages for non-manufacturing workers, but not as much as access to manufacturing jobs. Today as in 2000, Detroit??s residents desperately need job creation or relocation to the central city; and job training and anti-discrimination policy enforcement throughout the metro-area. All of these would be necessary to offset job loss and reduce inequality and poverty in Detroit. The extent to which blacks will benefit from 2010?C11 improvements in manufacturing employment in Detroit depends upon whether private companies and the state provide equal access to the jobs and the training new technologies require.     

Gender Discrimination and Worker Selectivity: A Comparison of the Self-employed and Wage Earners

This study compares the size and nature of the gender earnings differentials for the self-employed and wage earners in Korea, taking into account the workers’ self-selection of each employment type. The two-stage estimates of the earnings equation, corrected for worker selectivity, are used to decompose the gender earnings differentials into productivity-related and discriminatory factors. Our results suggest that the size of the gender earnings gap is larger in the wage sector than in the self-employment sector, but not by large margin, and so is the discrimination effect when not controlled for worker selectivity. With worker selectivity controlled, the discrimination effect is greatly intensified in the wage sector, while it becomes not significant in the self-employment sector. These findings imply that the observed gender earnings gap in the wage sector is largely ascribed to discrimination against women, while the gender earnings gap in the self-employment sector is mostly due to productivity difference that, in part, is caused by worker selectivity.     

Occupational Segregation and Gender Wage Differentials: Evidence from Malaysia

In Malaysia, the participation of women in the labor market has increased over time. However, occupational segregation and wage differentials continue to be prevalent between men and women in the labor market. The present paper investigates gender‐related occupational segregation and wage differentials based on data collected from 7135 working households in Peninsular Malaysia in 2011. The wage decomposition model introduced by Brown et al. (1980) is used to examine the determinants of gender‐related wage differentials. The results suggest that differences within occupations account for the largest portion of the wage gap between men and women. The results also indicate that wage discrimination within occupations plays an important role in the gender wage gap, while sample selection bias plays an important role in the examination of gender wage gaps.     

Vacancies,unemployment, and black and white wage earnings: 1956–1983

Utilizing recent developments in the literature on vacancies and unemployment, the effects of changes in the vacancy to unemployment ratio on black and white wage earnings are examined. The primary result argues that black women’s wage earnings are less sensitive to changes in the national vacancy to unemployment ratios than white earnings. Another way of interpreting this result is that black women are not experiencing wage gains when new jobs are created. This finding suggests that black women may not experience increases in earnings if the vacancy to unemployment ratio increases in the future.     

Introduction to Articles on Black Women and Work

Black women are one of the hardest working groups in the country. However, hard work is not always properly rewarded. The existence of wage inequities based on race has been shown to exist (Darity The Journal of Human Resources XVII: 72–91 1982), and black women have not been exempt from its implications. In addition, African American women still experience higher unemployment levels than their white female counterparts. In papers examining black women in the nursing profession, their income and earnings volatility, and inequities in their employment, Richard McGregory, Bradley Hardy, and Linda Loubert provide an overview of where black women stand in the U.S. labor market with respect to work and earnings. While these pieces show that African American women have made significant inroads into the American labor market there is still further to go.     

Race and sex differences in the effects of early unemployment on wages

Youth unemployment is shown to have significant depressing effects on black long-run earnings over and above the loss in work experience which accompanies unemployment. Estimates were similar for men and women, showing that for each week of unemployment black youth incurred early in their work careers, wages were reduced by about one half a percentage point five years later. A six month bout with unemployment in 1979 was related to a 13 percent drop in wage rates five years later. For white youth, joblessness, but not unemployment per se, had a significant negative impact on subsequent wage rates.     

Racial employment and earnings differentials: The impact of the Reagan Administration

Numerous authors have considered the time paths of black/white employment and earnings differentials. Some have dealt with significant policy change impacts such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This study reports evidence concerning the impact of Reagan administration policy changes. The major drawback to the study is, of course, that the administration’s total impact will no doubt not be felt for years. Regardless, using U. S. Census data through 1984, it was found that the administration had either a mixed effect (relative employment) or no effect (relative income), leaving the decaying position of blacks in the labor market little changed.     

Vocational Training and Gender: Wages and Occupational Mobility among Young Workers

This paper investigates the relationship between the genderwage gap, the choice of training occupation, and occupationalmobility. We use longitudinal data for young workers with apprenticeshiptraining in West Germany. Workers make occupational career choicesearly in their careers and women and men pursue very differentoccupational careers. We reconsider whether through occupationalsegregation women are locked in low-wage careers or whetherthey can move up to higher wage paths through mobility. We furthermoreinvestigate whether patterns have changed across cohorts duringthe period 1975–2001 and whether effects vary across thedistribution. The main results are, first, while there existsa persistent gender wage gap over experience, the gap has decreasedover time. Second, in the lower part of the wage distribution,the gap is highest and it increases with experience. Third,occupational mobility is lower for women than for men and thewage gains due to occupational mobility are higher for men thanfor women, especially in the lower part of the wage distribution.We conclude that occupational mobility has reduced the genderwage gap, but lock-in effects are still stronger for women comparedto men. Footnotes ¹ E-mail addresses: fitzenberger{at}wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de; astrid.kunze{at}nhh.no     

Rates of return to education of blacks in South Africa

The aim of this empirical study was to calculate private and social rates of return to education and to test the hypothesis that education is a major determinant of earning differentials for blacks in South Africa. Data for 23 278 working men and women were extracted from the 1985 Current Population Survey files. This comprised a sample representative of the black population in the Republic of South Africa excluding the former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei territories. Lifetime earnings profiles were constructed from these data for five educational levels, namely, no schooling up to Standard 1; Standards 2 to 4; Standards 5 to 7; Standards 8 to 9; and Standard 10. Schooling was assumed to account for 60 per cent of the earnings differentials between these profiles. Imputed average household outlays on schooling were taken as the private direct cost of education. These were supplemented by estimates of per pupil spending by the various government departments responsible for black education, to calculate the social costs per year of primary and secondary schooling. Indirect costs in the form of imputed foregone earnings were included from Standard 5 (age 15) onwards. The private internal rates of return to education of males were found to be about 16 per cent at primary level and 24 per cent for secondary schooling. Corresponding social rates of return are about 6 per cent for primary and 15 per cent for secondary education. Estimates for females showed negative rates of return between no schooling and Standards 2 to 4, the private and social rates being estimated at ‐1 per cent and ‐4 per cent respectively; from Standards 2 to 4 to Standards 5 to 7, a private rate of 12 per cent and a social rate of 4 per cent are reported; and for the remaining secondary school phases private rates of about 32 per cent and social rates of about 15 per cent are estimated. The study confirms that education is a major determinant of earnings differentials and education expansion can be regarded as a powerful earnings equaliser.     

The gender wage gap in Myanmar: Adding insult to injury?

Using two surveys from 2017, we analyze the gender wage gap for urban workers in Myanmar. We start from a standard wage equation and condition on education, experience, health and a small set of household demographic attributes. Subsequently we control for differences in occupational choice and sector of employment. We estimate the models with sample selection correction and this leads to estimated average wage offers that are lower than the observed average wages for women. Selection into wage work results in a workforce where female wage-workers have higher levels of education compared to their male counterparts. However, average wages for female workers continue to be 29% lower than male average wages. Differences in observable attributes do not account for this gap. Instead, it is associated with a lower base wage and lower remuneration of women’s experience. Going beyond the traditional decomposition methods, we utilize our matched employer–employee survey to generate exact comparisons of female and male production workers with equal levels of education and experience, employed in the same enterprises. Even in this setting, we find a gender wage gap of 13%. Our analysis thus indicates discrimination against women in Myanmar’s labor markets.     

Labour market inequality between men and women: Allocational differences versus wage rate differences

Summary This article discusses the question to what extent there are differences between men and women concerning the allocation of workers to jobs on the one hand and the remuneration for a given allocation on the other. Human capital variables do not only affect the allocation of men and women to job levels and job categories differently, they also have different effects on wage rates for men and women in given job levels and job categories. The wage gap between men and women partly stems from the fact that men and women have different personal characteristics, and partly from the different allocation of men and women to job levels and job categories. Besides, wage rate inequality stems from the different rewards for men and women with given characteristics. By decomposing the average wage rate difference between men and women it can be established that 40 percent of this difference can be attributed to differences concerning education, experience, and age; 28 percent to differences in the allocation of men and women to job levels and job categories, and 32 percent to higher rewards for men than for women with given characteristics.Economic Institute/Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Labour Market and Distribution Issues (CIAV) Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht; Economic Institute/Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Labour Market and Distribution Issues (CIAV), ijksuniversiteit Utrecht, and Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), Den Haag. The authors wish to thank the Dutch Wage Bureau for making available the data, and Frank Kalshoven, Ingrid Plas and Yolanda Grift for their computational assistance.     

Arrival Cohort, Assimilation, and the Earnings of Caribbean Women in the United States

Utilizing data on U.S.-born and Caribbean-born black women from the 1980–2000 U.S. Censuses and the 2000–2007 waves of the American Community Survey, I document the impact of cohort of arrival, tenure of U.S. residence, and country/region of birth on the earnings and earnings assimilation of black women born in the English-, French-, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. I also test whether selective migration accounts for earnings differences between U.S.-born and Caribbean-born black women in the United States. I show that almost all arrival cohorts of Caribbean women earn less than U.S.-born black women when they first arrive in the United States. However, over time the earnings of early arrival cohorts from the English- and French-speaking Caribbean are projected to surpass the earnings of U.S.-born black women. Indeed, this crossover is most pronounced for women from the English-speaking Caribbean. In models that account for selective migration by comparing the earnings of Caribbean women to U.S.-born black women who have moved across states since birth, I show that more time is required for early arrival cohorts from the English- and French-speaking Caribbean to surpass the earnings of U.S.-born black internal migrants. Women from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean do not seem to experience earnings growth as their tenure of U.S. residence increases. In summary, the findings suggest that selective migration is an important determinant of earnings differences between U.S.-born black women and black women from the Caribbean.