The Effects of Traditional Family and Gender Ideology on Earnings: Race and Gender Differences

Despite increasing gains in labor market opportunities, women and racial minorities earn less than their white male counterparts. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study explores racial and gender variation in how family and gender ideology shape this wage gap. The findings reveal that traditional role attitudes reduce earnings for African American men, African American women, and white women. However, white women experience the largest threat to wages as a result of conventional gender ideology. Further, the number of children and the timing of childbearing are detrimental to black and white women’s earnings, while neither of these factors hampers men’s earnings.C. André Christie-Mizell, Department of Sociology, University of Akron, 258 Olin Hall, Akron, OH 44325-1905, USA; e-mail: mizell@uakron.edu.     

Understanding the workweek of foreign born workers in the United States

I analyze the length of the workweek of foreign-born workers in the US I concentrate on workers supplying long hours of work—50 or more weekly hours and document that immigrants are less likely than natives to work long hours. Surprisingly, these differences are greatest among highly educated and salary paid workers, and persists even after conditioning for demographic characteristics. I explain these differences with two within occupation characteristics. First, relative to natives, immigrants are less likely to supply long work weeks if they work in occupations where the immigrant-native earnings differential is big. Second, immigrants are also less likely to supply long work weeks when they work in occupations with a wide dispersion of earnings. This second result is important, because the occupation dispersion of earnings has been used to characterize changes of the worker’s earnings over the worker life cycle (Bell and Freeman, Labour Economics: 8(2), 2001a; Working Time in Comparative Perspective, 2001b; Kuhn and Lozano, Journal of Labor Economics:26(2), 311–344, 2008), and a good measure of the incentives to supply long hours of work.     

Does strike insurance matter? Evidence from the airline industry’s mutual aid pact

Despite a conducive environment, airline strike insurance did not significantly affect flight attendants’ and mechanics’ earnings and depressed pilots’ earnings by a barely statistically significant 3 percent. These results cast doubt on previous assertions that the demise of strike insurance, precipitated by the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, improved unions’ relative bargaining power. Furthermore, the ineffectiveness of one of the most promising strike insurance pacts could explain the small number of such agreements in U.S. industries. The author may be contacted at the Department of Economics, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888 Station A, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3P8, Canada. The author is grateful to Bill Dickens, Denise Jarvinen, Ted Keeler, Jonathan Leonard, James Peoples, Kenneth Train, and Marc Van Audenrode for many helpful comments. The author also thanks the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and the PAFACC at the Université du Québec à Montréal for generous financial support.     

Cost of living and labor force participation: Married women in urban labor markets

I present and test the hypothesis that the cost of living (COL) positively influences the labor force participation (LFP) of married women. Based on housing values and regional variables, I first predict COL for a sample of 150 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) using a smaller subsample for which geographically comparable family budget data are available for 1980. Results from estimating a logistic LFP model using census MSA data confirm my hypothesis and suggest that COL embodies locality-specific amenities rather than “pure” prices. Part of the research for this paper was conducted while the author was Visiting Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and the Frederick Douglass Institute, University of Rochester, New York, during 1992–1993. The author thanks Oded Izraeli and Kevin J. Murphy for their helpful comments on earlier drafts and gratefully acknowledges the grant support of the Oakland University Research Committee.     

School, Family and County Effects on Adolescents’ Later Life Chances

This paper explores the links between family, school and area background influences during adolescence and later adult economic outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on data covering the period 1979 to 1996, drawn from the 1979 US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. For a sample of individuals aged 14–19 in 1979, we estimate the association between family, school and area characteristics when growing up, on adult earnings capacity and poverty risk. We show that including all these influences jointly, family and school quality generally have significant associations with adult outcomes, but that area influences generally do not.Simon Burgess, Department of Economics, University of Bristol and CASE, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK; e-mail: Simon.Burgess@bristol.ac.ukKaren Gardiner, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AY, UK; e-mail: K.S.Gardiner@bath.ac.ukCarol Propper, Department of Economics, University of Bristol and CASE, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK; e-mail: Carol.Propper@bristol.ac.uk     

The effect of geographic mobility on male labor-force participants in the United States

We use both fixed-effects and random-effects regression models to measure the effect of geographic mobility on earnings of labor-force participants in the United States. The results support the humancapital hypothesis: six years after moving, real earnings of male labor-force participants are about 20 percent higher than they would have been had the move not occurred. Men younger than 40, and men with family-unit incomes no more than five times the poverty line, experience even larger benefits from moving. The geographic mobility that is characteristic of the United States’ flexible labor market, in general, is beneficial to the movers. Support for this research was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, a research grant from the Faculty of Commerce, University of Wollongong, and a grant from the Labor Market and Regional Studies Center, University of Wollongong.     

Does consensus bargaining control labor costs in Japan? Evidence from the “bubble economy” and its aftermath

Japan’s system of labor negotiations provides an opportunity to see whether consensus bargaining restrains labor costs. The recent volatility of the Japanese economy affords a unique chance to observe how consensus-based labor settlements adjusted to sudden, sharp changes in market conditions. It is also possible to evaluate the role of bonus payments in amending labor settlements. With observations for 1986–1995,1 use measures of productivity gains to calculate the capacity for increasing worker pay and then analyze whether pay increases exceeded that capacity. I report the extent to which changes in labor earnings were scheduled or resulted from adjustments in bonus pay. During the boom years of the late 1980s, employers inflated bonuses so that workers’ pay increased more than had been scheduled, but not enough to exceed the capacity for growth. But during the sluggish years of the early 1990s, pay agreements were excessive. Employers cut workers’ bonuses to keep earnings growth in check. Thus, bonus pay provided a “degree of freedom” allowing employers to adjust labor costs following sudden upswings and downturns in the economy. I am grateful to Professor Hideo Kawada and Mr. Kenichi Matsuki, both of Senshu University, for their assistance in gathering the earnings data for this study. Thanks are also due to Craig MacPhee, Roger Riefler, and Hendrik Van den Berg for thoughtful comments and suggestions. I am responsible for any remaining shortcomings.     

Polarization and progress in the black community: Earnings and status gains for young black males in the era of affirmative action

We examined the occupational mobility and earnings attainment of young black and white male workers in the period 1974–1981 for evidence of class polarization among blacks in the era following the 1960s' antidiscrimination legislation. Our model links occupational status and earnings to the social resources of education and father's socioeconomic status, using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1968–1981. The results suggest that such resources operated more strongly for advantaged blacks than for whites. But for less advantaged blacks, race remained a significant barrier. As predicted by the polarization hypothesis, enforcement of affirmative action guidelines was beneficial, but only to more qualified blacks.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, August 1987.     

A ``European Consensus' on the Growth Agenda? A Discussion of the Sapir Report

This paper offers a discussion of An Agenda for a Growing Europe: Making the Economic System Deliver, a report to the President of the European Commission prepared by a group of independent experts. The paper reflects the results of the 3rd Milan European Economy Workshop (May 28–29, 2004) and my personal views. The workshop was organised by the Department of Economics, University of Milan and the Jean Monnet Chair of Economics of European Integration, with the participation of more than twenty distinguished speakers from several institutions across the European Union.     

North Central Sociological Association Presidential Address. Renewing Sociology: Integral Science,Solidarity, and Loving Kindness

Abstract

We contribute to the debate about the effects of immigration in the United States by analyzing the impact of recent (1980-2000) immigration on the economic outcomes of African Americans. We use Census 2000 data for a sample of 150 U.S. metropolitan areas to examine these outcomes. Our findings indicate that after controlling for a variety of theoretically relevant control variables, increases in recent immigration decrease labor force non-participation and poverty, and increase median earnings, among blacks. We argue that recent immigration expands blacks' job opportunities in or near the middle of the occupational hierarchy (e.g., protective services; office and administrative support). However, we also find a non-linear effect of immigration on black median earnings which indicates an immigrant population threshold where black earnings begin to decline. Thus, both sides of this debate may be correct: middle-class blacks benefit from increased immigration, but the gains of the black middle class do not always offset the fact that poor and lower-skilled blacks are losing out because of increased competition with immigrants.     

Cores and capacities of compound simple games

We provide an exact formula for the Nakamura number of a compound simple game. Also, we investigate the capacity of compound games. In particular, we show that if the components are not weak, then the capacity of the compound game is 2.I am grateful to R. Holzman for some helpful remarks.The first version of this paper was written when the author was visiting the Department of Economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061.     

Rapid Economic Development and Job Segregation in Taiwan

Most segregation studies have focused on industrialized nations where the economic structure is stable. However, when an economy experiences rapid development, the changing nature of industries and occupations may have a profound impact on gender segregation. This study uses a rapidly developing economy—Taiwan—to examine this issue. Based on the Yearbook of Manpower Survey Statistics, the gender representation was stable across industries and job status during the study period (1978–1997). However, occupation segregation increased dramatically. Rather than signaling a rise in discrimination, we find evidence that points to a benign, welfare improving self-selection, rather than gender discrimination. We speculate that this demonstrates occupation choice of women is more family-oriented when economic growth and development allows them this luxury.

Overweight Korean Adolescents and Academic Achievement

The relationship between academic achievement and being overweight among South Korean high school students was examined. Data used in the regression were from the Korean Education and Employment Panel Survey. The theoretical framework that poor school performance increases the risk of adolescents’ being overweight, which, in turn, causes poor school performance, was supported. With no other direct or indirect association between weight and achievement, an overweight high school student’s poor performance in school was assumed to be a function of the psychosocial well-being variables and self-concern about weight. A simultaneous-equation regression model that endogenized the likelihood an individual is classified as overweight (a binary variable) and the performance of that individual on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) incorporates the unobserved psychosocial well-being correlated with both school grades and being overweight.

Work patterns and marital status change

The impact of marital status changes on the lives of adults and children has increased importance as marriage, divorce, and remarriage have become more frequent patterns of family composition change. These events can often be predicted by the family members involved so that they may be accompanied by changes in labor market activity prior to the events themselves. The study reported here uses panel data to examine the labor market activity changes that precede marital status changes. Women who become divorced increase hours of work in the year or two before the divorce occurs, and women who become remarried decrease hours of work in the year of the remarriage and thereafter. For men there seems to be little change in labor supply during these years. However, hours of housework for men do seem to change.This research has been supported by the United States Department of Agriculture through the New York Agricultural Experiment Station under Southern Regional Project S-206. The data utilized in this work were made available in part by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data were originally collected by James N. Morgan, et al. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the view of the Inter-University Consortium or the institutions with which the researchers are affiliated. We wish to especially thank Robert Avery for his helpful comments throughout this research and Veronica Abel for her able research assistance.Jennifer L. Gerner is Associate Professor, Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, 137 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Her research interests include the economics of the family and family organization. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Catherine Phillips Montalto is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Her research interests include the economic behavior of households. W. Keith Bryant is Professor and Chair of the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, 117D Martha Van Rensselaer, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.     

Upgraded to Bad Jobs: Low‐Wage Black Women's Relative Status since 1970

Labor market changes complicate the analysis of black women's status relative to white women because education, occupational attainment, and race–gender are now less predictive of earnings. Low‐wage black women's relative status has improved somewhat from 1970 to 2000, contrary to the well‐documented decrease in relative status reported for all black women wage earners since 1980, but their dramatic occupational upgrading was not responsible for the trend. White‐collar occupational positions formerly responsible for white women's relative earnings advantage no longer deliver that reward, as restructuring has produced a proliferation of bad jobs across occupational groups. This study argues that increasing exposure to precarious work is crucial to understanding changes in low‐wage black women's relative economic status since 1970.     

Gender Role Ideology and the Gender Based Differences in Earnings

Much of the research on gender differences in occupational earnings still focuses on human capital and the structure of the labor market. However, these variables rarely explain even half of the gender gap in earnings. Most research has examined the impact of gender role ideology as it impacts occupational choice, which indirectly can impact earnings. Using data from the National Opinion Research Center General Social Surveys, this research focuses on the relationship between attitudes about gender roles and two variables: (a) earnings, and (b) occupational positions held by women and men. Findings show that traditional gender-role ideology contributes to lower observed earnings for both males and females, independent of the influences of human capital characteristics, occupational context, and ascribed characteristics. Results support socialization as a partial explanation for the gender-based earnings differences and suggest that, to the extent that economic rewards are used to assess the value of gender role expectations, traditional gender role attitudes might continue to change and lead to relatively equal earnings among women and men.     

Rethinking Occupational Integration

This paper uses US Census data from 1970 to 1990 to focus on “integrated” occupations—those in which men and women are approximately equally represented. We focus on the extensive variability that exists across these nominally integrated occupations, specifically their social demography and the paths by which they reach compositional sex equity. We also examine the link between occupational integration and race/sex succession, and explore the earnings consequences of working in mixed occupations. Our findings suggest that integration means quite different things at different levels of the occupational hierarchy and for the women and men integrating sex-atypical occupations. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, CA, August 2001.     

Nationality and Income Attainment among Native and Immigrant Hispanic Men in the United States*

This study examines earnings inequality between Hispanic-origin men and non-Hispanic white men (referred to as white) using the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. Results show that human capital and labor supply variables have more impact on Hispanic earnings than labor market characteristics. Post-school job experience and weeks worked conform most consistently to the predictions of micro-economic labor theory. Formal schooling, while positively related to earnings, does not uniformly influence job rewards among Hispanic-origin groups. Ecological variables (social and economic organization) of the labor market have less impact on earnings. There is some evidence that whites benefit from the presence of large concentrations of minority workers, while two Hispanic groups—native Mexican and other Spanish men—are negatively affected by high concentrations of Hispanic workers. A composition analysis shows that from 10 to 50 percent of the earnings gap between Hispanic and white men may be attributable to discrimination.     

Union rent appropriation and ex post analysis

A data set of 106Fortune 500 firms is used to investigate the extent of union rent appropriation in 1977. The analysis identifies the existence of an appropriable asset with greater value in use than exchange as a necessary condition for union rent appropriation. The empirical analysis utilizes a new source of unionization data and explicitly addresses the problems associated with ex post analysis. The results suggest capital- and firm-specific efficiency are major sources for union rent appropriation. The authors thank Barry Hirsch for providing data used in this study and also thank Jon Nelson, David Macpherson, Mark Roberts, Chella Courington, seminar participants at The Pennsylvania State University, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper. Machine readable copies of the unionization data and an appendix describing the programs used to generate the results are available from Ted W. Chiles at the Department of Economics, School of Business, Auburn University at Montgomery, 7300 University Drive, Montgomery, Alabama, 36117–3596.     

Gender and racial earnings differentials in academic labor markets

This study estimates earnings differentials across racial and gender groups among college faculty, and decomposes these differentials into the components attributable to differences in individual and institutional characteristics and that which remains unexplained. We find that white females earn approximately 4 percent less than white males; black males earn 7.4 percent more; black females earn one percent more; Hispanic males earn 2.7 percent more; Hispanic females earn 1.7 percent less; and Asian males earn 7.7 percent more than comparable white males. We also find a significant earnings penalty for being a naturalized citizen or noncitizen versus an U.S.-born citizen.