Volume 27, Number 4 (Fall) 1992
Hirsch, Barry T. and Edward J. Schumacher. 1992. "Labor Earnings, Discrimination, and the Racial Composition of Jobs." Journal of Human Resources 27(4):602-628.
This paper examines the effect pf the racial composition of labor markets on wage rates and the racial wage gap. The wage rates of whites as well as black workers are significantly lower in industry-occupation-regional groups with high densities of black workers, while the racial wage gap does not vary systematically with respect to racial density. Interpretation of racial gap estimates can be sensitive to inclusion of a racial density variable, particularly in sparse specifications. An explanation for the wage-density relationship cannot be established, but results are most consistent with a quality sorting explanation and, to a lesser extent, the crowding hypothesis.
Barry T. Hirsch is a professor of economics and Edward J. Schumacher is a graduate student at Florida State University in Tallahassee. They appreciate helpful comments from Mark Berger, William R. Johnson, Kevin Lang, David Macpherson, James Ragan, Andrew Weiss, anonymous referees, and discussants at the 1990 American and Southern Economic Association meetings The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in March 1993 through March 1996 from the authors at the following address: Department of Economics R-128, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2045.
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