We assess the impact of the welfare state on cross-national variation in the gender wage gap. Earnings inequality between men and women is conceptualized as resulting from their different locations in the class hierarchy, combined with the severity of wage differentials between and within classes. This decomposition contributes to identifying…

There are sizeable earnings differentials by gender and race in the U.S. labor market, with women earning less than men and most racial/ethnic minority groups earning less than whites. It has been proposed in the previous literature that the effects of gender and race on earnings are additive, so that minority women suffer the full disadvantage of…

Using previously unreleased data on nearly every authorized work stoppage that occurred between 1984 and 2002, this paper tests whether the positive wage-strike relationship held following the breakdown of the post-war labor-capital accord. Unlike in decades past, these findings indicate a complete decoupling of the wage-strike relationship. Even…

Some consequences of net regional mobility for the male labor force aged 30-37 in 1964 are reported. The effect of geographic mobility on earnings is estimated from earnings differences by mobility status, after controlling for age, sex, race, region of employment, education and academic achievement. Differences in earnings levels between the…

Analysis of educational levels and earnings associated with specific occupations supported seemingly conflicting explanations of inequality: (1) the job competition theory that education has no effect on equalization of earnings; and (2) the free market theory suggesting an effect of educational level on earnings and of unequal education on…

Using data from Black men residing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, tests the hypothesis that the earnings advantage of first generation northern Blacks over native northern Blacks results from different career strategies in the two groups. (Author/GC)

Analyses of National Longitudinal Survey data indicate that cognitive skill level affects access to high-skill occupations and earnings. Lower cognitive skill levels for African Americans and U.S.-born Mexican Americans explain a substantial proportion of income differences between these groups and European Americans but not the gender gap in pay…

Analysis of North Carolina survey data indicates that females' average hourly wages were 71% of males', and blacks' wages were 78% of whites'. Human capital factors (educational attainment and occupational experience) explained 31% and 3% of the racial and gender gaps, respectively. Job gender composition explained 56% of the gender gap; job…