IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/74335.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Decomposing Black-White Wage Gaps Across Distributions: Young U.S. Men and Women in 1990 vs. 2011

Author

Listed:
  • Richey, Jeremiah
  • Tromp, Nikolas

Abstract

We investigate changes in black-white wage gaps across wage distributions for young men and women in the U.S. between 1990 and 2011. Gaps are decomposed into composition and structural effects using a semi-parametric framework. Further, we investigate the roles of occupational choice and self-selection. We find a fall in the composition effect shrinks the wage gap at the lower end of the distribution for men and women. Conversely, an increase in the composition effect for men, and an increase in the structural effect for women, drives a widening of the wage gap at the upper end of the wage distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Richey, Jeremiah & Tromp, Nikolas, 2016. "Decomposing Black-White Wage Gaps Across Distributions: Young U.S. Men and Women in 1990 vs. 2011," MPRA Paper 74335, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:74335
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/74335/1/MPRA_paper_74335.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. DiNardo, John & Fortin, Nicole M & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1001-1044, September.
    2. Blau, Francine D & Beller, Andrea H, 1992. "Black-White Earnings over the 1970s and 1980s: Gender Differences in Trends," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(2), pages 276-286, May.
    3. David Card & Alan B. Krueger, 1992. "School Quality and Black-White Relative Earnings: A Direct Assessment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 151-200.
    4. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    5. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    6. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard, 2004. "The Racial Wage Gap: The Importance of Labor Force Attachment Differences across Black, Mexican, and White Men," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(2).
    7. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 1994. "Changing Wage Structure and Black-White Wage Differentials: A Longitudinal Analysis," Working Papers 701, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    8. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    9. Richard B. Freeman, 1973. "Changes in the Labor Market for Black Americans, 1948-72," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 4(1), pages 67-132.
    10. Moshe Buchinsky, 1998. "The dynamics of changes in the female wage distribution in the USA: a quantile regression approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 1-30.
    11. Albrecht, James & van Vuuren, Aico & Vroman, Susan, 2009. "Counterfactual distributions with sample selection adjustments: Econometric theory and an application to the Netherlands," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 383-396, August.
    12. Derek Neal, 2004. "The Measured Black-White Wage Gap among Women Is Too Small," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(S1), pages 1-28, February.
    13. Amitabh Chandra, 2003. "Is the Convergence of the Racial Wage Gap Illusory?," NBER Working Papers 9476, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Deborah Anderson & David Shapiro, 1996. "Racial Differences in Access to High-Paying Jobs and the Wage Gap between Black and White Women," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 49(2), pages 273-286, January.
    15. Joseph G. Altonji & Prashant Bharadwaj & Fabian Lange, 2012. "Changes in the Characteristics of American Youth: Implications for Adult Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(4), pages 783-828.
    16. Card, David & Lemieux, Thomas, 1994. "Changing Wage Structure and Black-White Wage Differentials," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 29-33, May.
    17. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 1994. "Changing Wage Structure and Black-White Wage Differentials: A Longitudinal Analysis," Working Papers 701, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    18. Smith, James P & Welch, Finis R, 1989. "Black Economic Progress after Myrdal," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 519-564, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Avinno Faruk, 2021. "Analysing the glass ceiling and sticky floor effects in Bangladesh: evidence, extent and elements," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(9), pages 1-23, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeremiah Richey & Nikolas Tromp, 2021. "The Black–White wage gap among young men in 1990 versus 2011: With sample selection adjustments," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 780-805, October.
    2. Jamie H. Douglas & Michael D. Steinberger, 2015. "The Sexual Orientation Wage Gap for Racial Minorities," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 59-108, January.
    3. Lex Borghans & Bas Ter Weel & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2014. "People Skills and the Labor-Market Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 287-334, April.
    4. Borghans, Lex & ter Weel, Bas & Weinberg, Bruce A., 2005. "People People: Social Capital and the Labor-Market Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups," IZA Discussion Papers 1494, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Lex Borghans & Bas Ter Weel & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2014. "People Skills and the Labor-Market Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 287-334, April.
    6. Christopher Bollinger & James P. Ziliak & Kenneth R. Troske, 2011. "Down from the Mountain: Skill Upgrading and Wages in Appalachia," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(4), pages 819-857.
    7. Maasoumi, Esfandiar & Wang, Le, 2017. "What can we learn about the racial gap in the presence of sample selection?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 199(2), pages 117-130.
    8. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3143-3259 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2008. "Unequal Pay or Unequal Employment? A Cross-Country Analysis of Gender Gaps," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(4), pages 621-654, October.
    10. Joanna Małgorzata Landmesser, 2019. "Decomposition Of Gender Wage Gap In Poland Using Counterfactual Distribution With Sample Selection," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 20(3), pages 171-186, September.
    11. Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina & Rosti, Luisa, 2023. "Changes in the gender pay gap over time: the case of West Germany," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 57, pages 1-11.
    12. Patrick Bayer & Kerwin Kofi Charles, 2016. "Divergent Paths: Structural Change, Economic Rank, and the Evolution of Black-White Earnings Differences, 1940-2014," NBER Working Papers 22797, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Landmesser Joanna Małgorzata, 2019. "Decomposition Of Gender Wage Gap In Poland Using Counterfactual Distribution With Sample Selection," Statistics in Transition New Series, Statistics Poland, vol. 20(3), pages 171-186, September.
    14. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis C. Carvajal-Osorio, 2020. "Two Stories of Wage Dynamics in Latin America: Different Policies, Different Outcomes," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 128-168, June.
    15. Töpfer, Marina, 2017. "Detailed RIF Decomposition with Selection - The Gender Pay Gap in Italy," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168422, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Nicodemo, Catia & Raya, Josep Maria, 2012. "Change in the distribution of house prices across Spanish cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 739-748.
    17. Philippe Van Kerm, 2013. "Generalized measures of wage differentials," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 465-482, August.
    18. Fortin, Nicole & Lemieux, Thomas & Firpo, Sergio, 2011. "Decomposition Methods in Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 1, pages 1-102, Elsevier.
    19. Nikolic, Jelena & Rubil, Ivica & Tomić, Iva, 2017. "Pre-crisis reforms, austerity measures and the public-private wage gap in two emerging economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 248-265.
    20. Thomas Grandner & Dieter Gstach, 2015. "Decomposing wage discrimination in Germany and Austria with counterfactual densities," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 49-76, February.
    21. Tromp, Nikolas, 2019. "The narrowing gender wage gap in South Korea," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Black-white wage gaps; Discrimination; Decompositions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:74335. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.