The Measured Black-White Wage Gap among Women Is Too Small

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2004
Volume: 112
Issue: S1
Pages: S1-S28

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Existing work suggests that black-white gaps in potential wages are much larger among men than women and further that black-white differences in patterns of female labor supply are unimportant. However, panel data on wages and income sources demonstrate that the modal young black woman who does not engage in market work is a single mother receiving government aid whereas her white counterpart is a married mother receiving support from a working spouse. The median black-white gap in log potential wages among young adult women in 1990 was likely at least 60 percent larger than the gap implied by reported earnings and hours worked in the Current Populations Surveys.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:v:112:y:2004:i:s1:p:s1-s28
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-26