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Title: The New Economy and Racial and Ethnic Wage Inequality, 1980 to 2010
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2012
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Abstract: For over two decades, numerous scholars have studied the relationship between the 'new economy' and various labor market outcomes. However, the new economy lacks a coherent definition as a structural process in the study of social stratification. Variation in structural changes between local labor markets over time also remains under-scrutinzed. This paper examines the relatioship between the transition to the new economy and racial and ethnic wage gaps, which persist despite rising human capital among minority workers. The study uses the 5% micro-data samples from the 1980-2000 decennial censuses, and the 2010 American Community Survey. Cross-sectional and fixed-effects regression analyses estimate the relationships between hourly wages of white, black, Latino, and Asian workers, and changes in five structural factors associated with the new economy: skill-biased technological change, financialization, casualized employment, service sector growth, and immigration. Results indicate mixed patterns of relationships between each structural factor and wage inequalities. The transition to the new economy overall increases the white-black wage gap by up to 35% and the white-Latino wage gap by up to 52% from 1980 to 2010. There is relatively little change in the white-Asian gap. Despite the appearance of being race neutral, structural changes associated with the new economy reinforce pre-existing patterns racial/ethnic stratification.
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Authors: Finnigan, Ryan
Conference Name: Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association
Publisher Location: Denver, CO
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity
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