Volume 6, Number 4 (Fall) 1971

Bergmann, Barbara R., and Jerolyn R. Lyle. 1971. "The Occupational Standing of Negroes by Areas and Industries." Journal of Human Resources 6(4):411-433.

Indexes of the occupational standing of Negroes relative to whites in 1966 are presented for 45 metropolitan areas and 67 industries. The most important factor in explaining differences in the indexes among areas was the citizens' attitudes towards equality for Negroes, for which we used the percentage voting for Wallace in 1968 as a proxy. Rate of net in-migration was also important, but variables designed to measure differences among areas in the Negro-white education gap and in availability of public transportation proved poor predictors. Among industries, Negroes have worse-than-average occupational status in industries which are more heavily involved in government contracting.

The authors are, respectively, Professor of Economics, University of Maryland, and Assistant Professor, The American University. The research from which the article derives was started as part of Lyle's Ph.D. thesis at the University of Maryland. During work on this article, Bergmann was supported in part under a grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity and Lyle in part by a fellowship under a grant of the Economic Development Administration and in part as a staff member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We wish to thank Paul Meyer, Robert Strauss, Ray Marshall, and a referee for this Journal for helpful suggestions and Ronald Fish for research assistance. Only the authors are responsible for the contents.


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