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Wage Dynamics and Racial and Ethnic Occupational Segregation Among Less-Educated Men in Metropolitan Labor Markets

  • Published:
The Review of Black Political Economy

Abstract

We assess whether occupational segregation in metropolitan labor markets is associated with the wages of, and contributes to racial/ethnic wage disparities among, less-educated men. To measure occupational segregation in metropolitan low wage markets, we create a segregation index measuring segregation between white, black, and Latino male high school-only educated workers and high school dropouts in 95 metropolitan labor markets utilizing a unique dataset of the structural characteristics of the ninety-five largest US metropolitan labor markets. We use regression, fixed effects, and generalized least squares estimation techniques to test whether this index is associated with wages and racial wage inequality among these men. The analyses reveal that in metropolitan labor markets characterized by more racial and ethnic segmentation in the low wage market, wages are lower among black and Latino men in particular, and racial-ethnic wage disparities among similarly less-educated white, black, and Latino men are higher.

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Notes

  1. Because of limitations of the dataset, we do not distinguish between GED-holders and high-school graduates.

  2. This index was created using the STATA command, egen newvar = group (occupationvar industryvar).

  3. Because of changes in the industry and occupational coding in the more detailed categories between 1990 and 2000, we had to aggregate the 3-digit occupation and industry codes to 1-digit for comparability across the Census years. Previous research has found that greater occupational detail often reveals wider disparities (Bielby et al. 1986). Thus, testing these associations at lower levels of aggregation, as we do here, offers a more stringent and rigorous test and likely understates the effect.

  4. Percent minority and residential segregation measure different phenomena and are not overlapping measures. (Massey and Denton 1988).

  5. To calculate the percent change in the dependent variable in a semi-log model where Y (wages) is logged (natural log), we use the 100 * (eβ −1).

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful suggestions of Darrick Hamilton and the research assistance of Makada Henry and Traci Cosmo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Labor and Employment Relations, Penn State University, 511 Keller Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Niki Dickerson von Lockette

  2. Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA

    William E. Spriggs

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  1. Niki Dickerson von Lockette
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  2. William E. Spriggs
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Correspondence to Niki Dickerson von Lockette.

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von Lockette, N.D., Spriggs, W.E. Wage Dynamics and Racial and Ethnic Occupational Segregation Among Less-Educated Men in Metropolitan Labor Markets. Rev Black Polit Econ 43, 35–56 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-015-9222-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-015-9222-5

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