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Discrimination, Human Capital, and Black-White Unemployment: Evidence from Cities

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  • Steven Shulman

Abstract

Neither human capital theory nor the declining discrimination hypothesis can account for the failure of the black-white employment gap to fall along with the wage gap. However, the weakness of the labor market since 1970 suggests that sustained employment discrimination in the context of restrictions on compensatory wage discrimination can explain these trends. This hypothesis is assessed with a cross-sectional model employing 1980 census summary data on SMSAs. The innovative feature of this model is the use of complaints of job discrimination received by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as proxies for actual discrimination. Results support the contention that the forms of discrimination have undergone a compositional shift and that employment discrimination reduces the probability of black employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Shulman, 1987. "Discrimination, Human Capital, and Black-White Unemployment: Evidence from Cities," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 22(3), pages 361-376.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:22:y:1987:i:3:p:361-376
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    Cited by:

    1. Gordon B. Dahl & Matthew Knepper, 2023. "Age Discrimination across the Business Cycle," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 75-112, November.
    2. William A. Sundstrom, 1997. "Explaining the Racial Unemployment Gap: Race, Region, and the Employment Status of Men, 1940," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(3), pages 460-477, April.
    3. Ebru Kongar, 2005. "Importing Equality or Exporting Jobs?: Competition and Gender Wage and Employment Differentials in U.S. Manufacturing," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_436, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. McElroy, Susan Williams, 1996. "Early childbearing, high school completion, and college enrollment: Evidence from 1980 high school sophomores," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 303-324, June.
    5. Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong & Rudy Fichtenbaum, 1997. "Racial wage gaps and differences in human capital," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(8), pages 1033-1044.
    6. 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.
    7. Ebru Kongar, 2005. "Importing Equality or Exporting Jobs?: Competition and Gender Wage and Employment Differentials in U.S. Manufacturing," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2005_13, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    8. Steven Shulman, 1996. "The political economy of labor market discrimination: A classroom-friendly presentation of the theory," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 24(4), pages 47-64, June.
    9. Brooks B. Robinson, 2009. "Black Unemployment And Infotainment," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(1), pages 98-117, January.

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