Full Citation

Title: Separate and Unequal in the Labor Market: School Quality and the Black-White Wage Gap

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2014

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Prior to 1965, black and white Southerners were educated in racially segregated schools with starkly different quality standards. At the same time, black earnings were substantially lower than white earnings. Using earnings data for young men in the 1940 Census, we measure the contribution of disparities in education quantity and quality to the black/white earnings gap. We find that pre-market education differences can explain 83% of the unconditional earnings gap, almost all of within-occupation disparities, and 56% of occupational sorting. We conclude that public-sector discrimination in the provision of education played a large role in explaining the black-white wage gap and that a separate but equal education quality standard would have reduced labor market inequalities by between 62 and 75% in 1940.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: , Marianne H.; , Celeste K.

Publisher: University of Tennessee

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Race and Ethnicity

Countries: