| Abstract: | 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. |
