The Evolution of Occupational Segregation in the U.S., 1940-2010: Gains and Losses of Gender- Race/ethnicity Groups

Coral del Rio Otero and Olga Alonso-Villar

No 1405, Working Papers from Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Economía Aplicada

Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold: a) to explore the evolution of occupational segregation of women and men of different racial/ethnic groups in the U. S. during the period 1940- 2010 and b) to assess the consequences of segregation for each of them. For that purpose, this paper proposes a simple index that measures the monetary loss or gain of a group derived from its overrepresentation in some occupations and underrepresentation in others. This index has a clear economic interpretation. It represents the per capita advantage (if the index is positive) or disadvantage (if it is negative) of the group, derived from its segregation, as a proportion of the average wage of the economy. Our index is a helpful tool not only for academics but also for institutions concerned with inequalities among demographic groups because it makes it possible to rank them according to their segregation nature.

Keywords: occupational segregation; local segregation; race; ethnicity; gender; wages; U.S. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 J15 J16 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2014-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-his, nep-lab and nep-lma
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Evolution of Occupational Segregation in the U.S., 1940-2010: The Gains and Losses of Gender-Race/Ethnicity Groups (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vig:wpaper:1405

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