Labor market racial discrimination against black women

Conclusion The data we have reviewed describe black women as having achieved parity with white women and indicate that this conclusion is not seriously affected after controlling for the direct and indirect effects of differences in time worked. However, the economic position of black women is not uniform throughout the economy. Black women have advanced primarily in public sector jobs and these advances have been made primarily by the youngest cohorts. Progress in the private sector has been much slower. Claims that a “new labor market” exists for black women ought to be carefully qualified, for their progress is impressive primarily when they are compared to white women—another disadvantaged group. Both groups of women are falling farther behind men in terms of relative earnings.16 Furthermore, it may be quite erroneous to interpret small differences in earnings between black and white women as evidence that black women do not suffer racial discrimination, as the following example illustrates.     

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.     

Effect of Korean trade union on wage discrimination between regular and irregular workers

Whether the dual labor market structure implied by employment type and unionization causes wage discrimination is an intriguing and relevant policy question in the context of South Korea. This study examines the effect of trade unions on wage discrimination against irregular workers by extracting and comparing the ratios of the discriminatory wage gap by employment type between unionized and non-unionized workplaces. As per the analysis, all generalized decomposition frameworks show that the presence of trade unions expands discrimination regardless of the employment type. In addition, the effects of unionization on the degree of discrimination differ by factors characterized by the dual labor market. The effects are statistically significantly greater for women, youth, service industries, and white-collar jobs.     

What do we know about racial discrimination in mortgage markets?

The article summarizes evidence regarding racially discriminatory acts in the mortgage lending market. Various information sources are considered: paired-testing studies, statistical studies of lending patterns and loan rejections, administrative histories, legal suits, case studies, and mortgage underwriting standards. The review demonstrates that, although there remain many unanswered questions about the scope and nature of racial discrimination in mortgage lending, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the problem still exists.     

A labor force competition model of racial discrimination in the labor market

Conclusion This paper has developed a model of discrimination based on the standard maximization hypotheses. This model assumes an imperfectly competitive labor market. In particular, net differences in the benefits of jobs are not competed away, and labor market coalitions of workers exist. As we have indicated, the model is able to explain the major phenomena associated with labor market discrimination.     

Refined racial discrimination: A case study of public employment in a southeastern city

Summary and Conclusion Though the preceding findings are not conclusive, 9 they are strongly supportive of the refined discrimination hypothesis and closely parallel Long’s conclusions in his study of job discrimination in the federal government.     

The treatment of racial and sexual discrimination in economics journals and economics textbooks: 1972 to 1987

This article examines two decades of scholarly literature on discrimination and two decades of discussion of discrimination in economics textbooks. At first discrimination was taken seriously and policy responses adequate to the problem were advocated. Today this is a minority position. The article first traces the way thatJEL policies concerning indexing and abstracting have contributed to this change. Next textbooks are analyzed to show how this change is manifested in commonly used curricular materials. Finally, political preferences are shown to undergird crucial arguments like those concerning minimum wages. Conclusions linking ideology to research agendas are put forward.     

A note on the apparent constancy of the racial wage gap in New Jersey manufacturing, 1902 to 1979

Conclusion This discussion around the black-white wage gap will continue. Inadequate data alone will make it difficult to distinguish recent fluctuations and once-only changes from long-term trends. For those who believe the racial wage gap is narrowing, the 1902 New Jersey survey of blacks in manufacturing presents a puzzle. Why at the outset of black entry into this sector of the economy do we find a racial wage gap as narrow as the one observed for New Jersey manufacturing in 1969, a year at the top of the post-World War II business cycle? Michael Reich argues that “in every region but the South the relative income of non-white males shows substantial cyclical fluctuations… but shows no upward trend over time.” The baseline established by the 1902 New Jersey survey is compatible with Reich’s conclusion.     

Changes in gender wage discrimination in the 1990s: A tale of three very different economies

In this paper gender wage decompositions are performed for three very different countries, that is, Japan, Russia and the USA for the years of 1993 and 2000, using the ISSP data set. From the research of this paper, it is shown that the gender wage differential in Japan has narrowed between 1993 and 2000, and the results reveal price and characteristics effects for this country that differ markedly from those observed elsewhere, with female disadvantage being particularly marked. Also, this paper finds that gender wage differentials in Russia and the USA have increased during the years considered here.     

Women's relative wage rate in The Netherlands, 1950–1983: A test of alternative discrimination theories

Summary This article presents the results of an inquiry into the relationship that is to be expected on theoretical grounds between women's wage rate compared to men's on the one hand and some macroeconomic variables on the other. Becker's discrimination theory is confronted with alternative theories. On the base of data for the Netherlands the authors investigate which theory is most suited to explain the development of women's relative wage rate for the period 1950–1983. They conclude that the results of the empirical analysis predominantly support Becker's theory.The authors wish to thank Mr. R. Haagsma and Professor C.K.F. Nieuwenburg for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. Furthermore, they are grateful to Miss M.J.R. Key for computational assistance.     

Business cycle and wage policy

Summary This article presents a model of the business cycle and economic growth which explains the deviations of strategic macro-economic variables from their equilibrium values. It is assumed that the price mechanism will clear the goods market yearly, such that an equilibrium between effective demand and the profitable production capacity will be attained through the equilibrating price competition of entrepreneurs. However, a yearly labour market equilibrium will not be reached. Imperfect wage competition will only restore equilibrium in the very long run. Through a Koyck lag in the wage-setting function, i.e. between the rise of real labour costs per unit of product and the level of strain between supply and demand on the labour market, a lasting wage-push will generate a cyclical process that in some circumstances may take forty years. For, the lower the short-run elasticity between the real wage increase and the strain variable, the more lasting the cyclical process will be. A forty year cyclical movement shows a remarkable correspondence between the observed data in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's and 1980's of this century and the simulations of the model.Originally published in Dutch in J.A.H Maks and E. Wester (eds.),Met het oog op de werkelijkheid, Opstellen over economie en beleid voor F. Hartog, H.E. Stenfert Kroese b.v., Leiden, 1983, pp. 191–213.     

Asymmetric wage indexation

Models of wage indexation uniformly have been based on the simplifying assumption that nominal wages adjust upward or downwrd symmetrically with unexpected price increases or decreases. Indexation typically is asymmetric in actual contracts, however. Wages are indexed to price increases but not to price reductions. This paper analyzes a macroeconomic model with asymmetric indexation. On the one hand, this paper finds that when stable equilibria supporting use of such asymmetrically indexed contracts exist, the result is an unambiguous downward bias in the base contract wage, because workers must pay a premium for insurance against real wage reductions that unexpected inflation otherwise would induce. On the other hand, the paper concludes that the likelihood of existence of stable equilibria supporting positive wage indexation generally declines as aggregate demand variability rises relative to the variability of aggregate supply. This may help explain why relatively low levels of wage indexation actually are observed in nations with relatively contained aggregate demand volatility.     

Reciprocity information and wage personalization

This paper considers a modified principal-agent environment, where principals can use personalized offers based on agents' reciprocity-related information. With such information, principals can either impose stronger financial incentives or try to “trigger” agents' positive reciprocity by offering a higher fixed rate. Theory suggests that principals who believe in agents' reciprocity would personalize offers so that reciprocal agents increase their effort beyond the self-regarding benchmark. Using a lab experiment, we test the behavior of principals and agents. Our experimental market witnesses significant wage personalization when reciprocity information is available. However, agents' effort levels and principals' payoffs are lower under wage personalization, compared with the sessions where principals cannot personalize offers. Our structural analysis shows that, under wage personalization, agents expect higher fixed wages and reciprocate higher wages less. Information about agents' individual reciprocity is more correlated with the expected wages, rather than the strength of reciprocity toward higher or lower wages. Principals grant higher fixed wages to workers with lower wage expectations, but because principals cannot personalize offers effectively according to the strength of reciprocity, the performance of wage personalization is limited.     

Market wage or discrimination? The remuneration of male and female wool spinners in the seventeenth‐century Dutch Republic1

In the historical debate, the gender wage gap is usually attributed either to productivity differences or to gender discrimination. By analysing a newly constructed series of spinning wages in the seventeenth‐century Dutch Republic, the wages of male and female textile workers for the same work could be investigated. At first sight, the evidence on equal piece rates for spinning men and women seems to rule out wage discrimination. Nevertheless, more deeply rooted gender discrimination resulting from the segmented seventeenth‐century labour market restricted women's access to many professions. Exactly this segmentation determined differences in wage earning capacities between men and women.     

A research on wage status and wage expectations of migrant workers in Hulan District

Since 2004, there has been the succession of migrant workers labor shortage all over the country. Among the factors causing farmers to hunt jobs in cities, wage plays a decisive role. So in this paper, it made an investigation and research on wages status and salary expectations of migrant workers in Hulan District. There are three main problems of migrant workers wages in Hulan District： The migrant workers＇ average wage is less than the community average wage; the wages were cut down in fact because of long working hours, as well as the low rate of return. In this district, the wage expectation of migrant workers on average is between 1341.8 and 1496.9 Yuan, that is 0.91-1.01 times as many as local minimum wage standard （after adding the overtime pay）; and 0.98-1.12 times as many as AVG salary last year. At last, it gives some suggestions： The enterprises should raise the standard of wages referring to the wage expectation of local migrant workers; local government should enhance skill trainings for migrant workers.     

低工资人群和最低工资政策

北京师范大学收入分配与贫困研究中心主任李实教授从四个方面阐述了低工资人群和中国最低工资政策的研究背景。