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Divide and Conquer: Microfoundations of a Marxian Theory of Wage Discrimination

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  • John E. Roemer

Abstract

Microfoundations for a divide-and-conquer model of wage discrimination are provided by positing that workers' psychologies permit racial integration of firms to weaken workers' unity and hence reduce their bargaining power against employers. In this bargaining -- as opposed to competitive -- model of wage determination, there are discriminatory equilibria at which both white and black workers are worse off and employers are better off than would be the case without worker dissension. Furthermore, owing to the bargaining structure, market forces cannot unravel the discriminatory wage bargain.

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  • John E. Roemer, 1979. "Divide and Conquer: Microfoundations of a Marxian Theory of Wage Discrimination," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(2), pages 695-705, Autumn.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:bellje:v:10:y:1979:i:autumn:p:695-705
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    Cited by:

    1. Robin Naylor, 1994. "Pay discrimination and imperfect competition in the labor market," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 177-188, June.
    2. Nancy Folbre, 2013. "The rise and decline of patriarchal capitalism," Chapters, in: Jeannette Wicks-Lim & Robert Pollin (ed.), Capitalism on Trial, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Dasgupta, Indraneel, 2009. "'Living' wage, class conflict and ethnic strife," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 750-765, November.
    4. Fabien Tarrit, 2017. "Marxisme (Académique)," Post-Print hal-02019117, HAL.
    5. G. Coleman, 2002. "Contesting the Magic of the Market-place: Black Employment and Business Concentration in the Urban Context," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(10), pages 1793-1818, September.
    6. Sripad Motiram, 2010. "Incomplete Contracts, Incentives and Economic Power," Microeconomics Working Papers 23017, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    7. Mick Brookes & Timothy Hinks & Duncan Watson, 2001. "Comparisons in Gender Wage Differentials and Discrimination between Germany and the United Kingdom," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 15(3), pages 393-414, September.
    8. Skatun, John Douglas, 1998. "Divide the hours and conquer the surplus: part-time workers and pay," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 235-242, November.
    9. Robert Drago, 1986. "Capitalism and Efficiency: A Review and Appraisal of the Recent Discussion," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 18(4), pages 71-92, December.
    10. John E King, 2015. "Microfoundations and Marxism," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 652-659, December.
    11. Patrick Mason, 1992. "The divide-and-conquer and employer/ employee models of discrimination: Neoclassical competition as a familial defect," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 73-89, June.
    12. Sripad Motiram, 2019. "Incomplete Contracts, Power and Efficiency: A Theoretical Analysis," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 7(2), pages 173-188, December.
    13. Sripad Motiram, 2010. "Incomplete contracts, incentives and economic power," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2010-011, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    14. Spencer, David A, 2000. "The Demise of Radical Political Economics? An Essay on the Evolution of a Theory of Capitalist Production," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 24(5), pages 543-564, September.
    15. Marjorie L. Baldwin, 1997. "Can the ADA Achieve its Employment Goals?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 549(1), pages 37-52, January.
    16. Sripad Motiram, 2010. "Incomplete Contracts, Incentives and Economic Power," Working Papers id:3123, eSocialSciences.

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