| Abstract: | Conclusion The evidence in this article helps to explain the black-white earnings differential in 1970, six years after the passage of
Fair Employment Legislation, in terms of traditional measures such as experience and education along with a public policy
measure that has of late come under fire. And contrary to the notion that the gains from such government policy have not benefited
the less fortunate workers but simply accrued only, or mainly, to upper- or middle-class blacks, the results presented here
indicate that enforcement, such as it is, has had beneficial effects for black men and women in virtually all major occupational
categories.
When a distinction is made between the various major occupational categories, the importance of education and experience as
factors that contribute toward explaining black-white earnings differentials is generally supported by this study. However,
neither education nor experience shows a consistent explanatory power across occupational categories and especially across
the sexes. For example, experience is more frequently found to be a significant factor for black men than it is for black
women. Education, on the other hand, was found to have no statistically significant relationship with wage differentials in
major blue-collar job categories for both men and women, thus lending some credence to the dual labor market thesis regarding
returns to education.
By far the factor we have found to be the most consistent with respect to its impact upon racial wage differentials for both
men and women is the fair employment variable. Indeed, across major occupational groups the existence and enforcement of fair
employment laws seems to have had, generally, a more significant effect on reducing racial wage differentials than each of
the other independent variables. |
