Are Wage Premiums for Black Women Illusory? A Critical Examination

Peter McHenry () and Melissa McInerney

No 120, Working Papers from Department of Economics, College of William and Mary

Abstract: Recent evidence documents a wage premium for black women (e.g., Fryer, 2011). However, we find no strong evidence of a premium after accounting for selection into the labor market; years of education attained, conditional on ability; and local cost of living. We find modest evidence of heterogeneous effects by education-small premiums for highly educated black women and penalties for black women with less education. Controlling for actual experience yields estimates at the low end of previously published premiums, but the possibility of discrimination in hiring and firing implies that controls for actual experience may be inappropriate.

Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2012-04-09
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