Few studies have considered how earnings inequality estimates may be affected by measurement error in self-reported earnings in surveys. Utilizing restricted-use data that links workers in the Survey of Income and Program Participation with their W-2 earnings records, we examine the effect of measurement error on estimates of racial earnings…

We use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to estimate the effects of cognitive skills (measured by the Armed Forces Qualification Test) and attitudinal/behavioral traits (a latent factor based on self-reported self-esteem, locus of control, educational aspirations and educational expectations) on career wage…

This study examines the role of sheepskin effects in explaining white-black earnings differences. The study finds significant differences in sheepskin effects between white men and black men, with white men receiving higher rewards for lower level signals (degrees of a college education or less) and black men receiving higher rewards for higher…

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…

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data reveal that 35% of white males who left school between 1979 and 1988 returned by 1989. An estimated wage model shows that those who delay their schooling earned less than those with continuous schooling. The gap increased with the length of time before reenrollment. (SK)

Examines whether wage differentials based on race have disappeared from the labor market for young men. Found a significant Black-White difference, but an insignificant Hispanic-White difference. (JOW)

When discouraged unemployed black males are accounted for, real wage growth for black men over 1969-98 is reduced by about 40% and black-white wage convergence by about one-third. An important source of selection bias is the changing gap between wages of workers and potential wages of nonworkers. (Contains 20 references.) (SK)

Recent years of inflation and recession held real earnings of wage and salary workers below 1973 levels; the pay gap between Black and White full-time employees narrowed after 1967, but the wide earnings disparity by sex remains. (Author)

A matched sample of Social Security and Current Population Survey records is used to determine life-cycle earnings patterns of White males. Estimated effects of schooling and experience compare well with other studies, but interaction effects with cohort do not. Military experience plays a powerful role in earnings differences across cohorts.…

A government study found that Black men's earnings lag behind those of White men. However, their monetary returns for each year of education are as high as those for White men. It was also reported that on-the-job training does not pay off as well for Blacks. (CT)

Estimation of multinomial logistic regression models on a sample of unemployed workers suggested that persistently higher black unemployment is due to differential access to employment opportunities by region, occupational placement, labor market segmentation, and discrimination. The racial gap in unemployment is greatest for college-educated…

Examines the earnings gap between Mexican, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White male workers resulting from changes in both wage structure and immigration law in the 1980s. Results suggest that Mexican-American and Hispanic-American workers were adversely affected by these changes. Data from a national survey show how workers minimized the negative…

Data on women in labor unions in 1988 reveal the following facts: (1) women are becoming an increasingly important part of membership in organized labor, as the total number of workers in unions declines; (2) in 1988, nearly 6 million of the 47.5 million employed women in the United States, or about 13 percent, were members of unions; (3) since…

This study examines the relative earnings of black men from a time series perspective covering 1930 to 1990. Regression analyses were fitted to annual data to isolate factors responsible for changes in relative earnings. National and regional data on population growth and employment growth by industry were analyzed to determine the degree of…

This study attempts to explain differences in Black and White earnings as of 1975 and changes in earnings between 1967 and 1975. Variables include schooling, years of experience in the labor market, personal characteristics (marital status, health), and area of residence. (CT)