Audit studies testing for discrimination have been criticized because applicants from different groups may not appear identical to employers. Correspondence studies address this criticism by using fictitious paper applicants whose qualifications can be made identical across groups. However, Heckman and Siegelman (1993) show that group differences…

This paper examines the effect of oral health on labor market outcomes by exploiting variation in fluoridated water exposure during childhood. The politics surrounding the adoption of water fluoridation by local governments suggests exposure to fluoride is exogenous to other factors affecting earnings. Exposure to fluoridated water increases…

We study gender differences in attitudes in the role of luck versus hard work in achieving success using data from the World Values Survey. Women are consistently more likely to report that success is a matter of luck. We consider several potential explanations: workplace discrimination, religion, household responsibilities, and political…

We analyze the female-male gap in starting-salary offers for new college graduates using data from the annual surveys of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), unique (and proprietary) data that have not previously been used for this purpose. A major advantage of working with a data set on salaries for new college graduates is…

Because progress has been slow toward equality between men and women in the labor market, some have called for a comparable worth policy. A theoretical justification for this position is the crowding hypothesis. This paper explains the theory and presents a method to test its principal hypothesis. Author/JOW)

We examine gender wage disparities for four groups of college-educated women--black, Hispanic, Asian, and non-Hispanic white--using the National Survey of College Graduates. Raw log wage gaps, relative to non-Hispanic white male counterparts, generally exceed -0.30. Estimated gaps decline to between -0.08 and -0.19 in nonparametric analyses that…

Using two single-cohort longitudinal surveys, the NLS72 and the NELS88, I investigate the impact of four noncognitive traits--self-esteem, external locus of control, the importance of money/work and the importance of people/family--on wages and on the gender wage gap among these young workers. I find that gender differences in these noncognitive…

Wage discrimination by gender in reemployment was examined by decomposing the wage gap upon reemployment. Results suggest that employers are using discriminatory hiring practices that are less likely to be detected and harder to prove in court. (SK)

Recent labor market weakness suggests that sustained employment discrimination in the context of restrictions on wage bias explains black-white employment gaps. The hypothesis is assessed using a cross-sectional model employing 1980 census summary data. Results indicate that forms of discrimination have undergone a compositional shift. (Author/CH)

This paper develops an individual optimization model with persistent intergenerational immobility. Its key feature is that training costs are negatively correlated with family background. Different innate abilities are shown to reduce but not eliminate the importance of family backgrounds. It argues that, in some situations, equal opportunity…

Analysis of Current Population Survey data shows that wage rates of both African-American and white workers are significantly lower in occupational groups with high densities of African-American workers. Results are most consistent with a quality sorting explanation and to a lesser extent with the crowding hypothesis. (Author/SK)

Using National Longitudinal Survey data, the influence of personal characteristics, occupational choice, and discrimination on the occupational attainment of young men was investigated. Two conclusions were reached: (1) correcting for self-selection increases importance of occupational distribution in explaining racial wage differentials; and (2)…

Recommends a modified bonus system for employers to improve black employment opportunities without rewarding employers with poor pre-bonus ethnic ratios. (BH)

This paper develops and tests a theory, referred to as "preference for whiteness," which predicts that the interracial (white-black) and intraracial wage gap widens as the skin shade of the black worker darkens. Using data drawn from the Multi City Study of Urban Inequality and the National Survey of Black Americans, we report evidence…

Cautions that acceptance of a higher level of unemployment will seriously delay, or even eliminate, the prospect of black incomes reaching equality with white income levels. (BH)