lynx   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/femeco/v4y1998i3p7-28.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Remedying "Unfair Acts": U.S. Pay Equity by Race and Gender

Author

Listed:
  • Jane Lapidus
  • Deborah Figart
Abstract
Case studies in Canada, Australia, and the U.S. have found that pay equity (or comparable worth) has reduced the gender-based wage gap substantially, and results of research on the gender composition of jobs have been used guiding pay equity implementation. But, in general, the racial composition jobs remains overlooked in the literature and in public policy. We extend previous work on eliminating the wage penalty of employment in female-dominated occupations to estimating the potential effect of adopting comparable worth to alleviate race- as well as gender-based wage discrimination. First we report the negative impact of racial-ethnic and female composition of jobs on pay in the U.S. Correcting for this form of wage discrimination, we find that implementing comparable worth would appreciably narrow the race- and gender-based wage gaps and significantly reduce the percent of workers earning poverty-level wages, especially among women of color. Close to 50 percent of women of color and 40 percent of white women currently earning less than the federal poverty threshold for a family of three would be lifted out of poverty. Second, we show that, in addition to the effects of occupational concentration, being a woman, an African-American, or a worker of Hispanic origin negatively and significantly affects pay. Not every type of wage discrimination is alleviated by a pay equity policy, which is why activists have also supported anti-discrimination and affirmative action policies for women and people of color.

Suggested Citation

  • Jane Lapidus & Deborah Figart, 1998. "Remedying "Unfair Acts": U.S. Pay Equity by Race and Gender," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 7-28.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:4:y:1998:i:3:p:7-28
    DOI: 10.1080/135457098338293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/135457098338293
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/135457098338293?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bergmann, Barbara R, 1971. "The Effect on White Incomes of Discrimination in Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(2), pages 294-313, March-Apr.
    2. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    3. Morley Gunderson & W. Craig Riddell, 1992. "Comparable Worth: Canada'S Experience," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 10(3), pages 85-94, July.
    4. Orazem, Peter F & Mattila, J Peter, 1990. "The Implementation Process of Comparable Worth: Winners and Losers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(1), pages 134-152, February.
    5. Marlene Kim, 1997. "The Working Poor: Lousy Jobs or Lazy Workers?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_194, Levy Economics Institute.
    6. Jeremiah Cotton, 1988. "Discrimination and Favoritism in the U.S. Labor Market: The Cost to a Wage Earner of Being Female and Black and the Benefit of Being Male and White," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 15-28, January.
    7. Barry T. Hirsch & Edward J. Schumacher, 1992. "Labor Earnings, Discrimination, and the Racial Composition of Jobs," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 27(4), pages 602-628.
    8. Marianne A. Ferber & Helen M. Lowry, 1976. "The Sex Differential in Earnings: A Reappraisal," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 29(3), pages 377-387, April.
    9. Randy albelda, 1985. ""Nice Work If You Can Get It": Segmentation of White and Black Women Workers in the Post-War Period," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 17(3), pages 72-85, September.
    10. Johnson, George & Solon, Gary, 1986. "Estimates of the Direct Effects of Comparable Worth Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1117-1125, December.
    11. O'Neill, June & Brien, Michael & Cunningham, James, 1989. "Effects of Comparable Worth Policy: Evidence from Washington State," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 305-309, May.
    12. Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong & Rudy Fichtenbaum, 1993. "Black-white wage differential: The relative importance of human capital and labor market structure," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 19-52, March.
    13. Julianne Malveaux, 1984. "Comments on the John M. Jeffries and Howard Stanback article," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 138-144, June.
    14. R. G. Gregory & R. C. Duncan, 1981. "Segmented Labor Market Theories and the Australian Experience of Equal Pay for Women," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 403-428, April.
    15. Ehrenberg, Ronald G & Smith, Robert S, 1987. "Comparable-Worth Wage Adjustments and Female Employment in the State and Local Sector," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(1), pages 43-62, January.
    16. Marlene Kim, 1997. "The Working Poor: Lousy Jobs or Lazy Workers?," Macroeconomics 9712002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Lynda J. Ames, 1995. "Fixing Women's Wages: The Effectiveness of Comparable Worth Policies," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(4), pages 709-725, July.
    18. Deborah Figart, 1997. "Gender as More Than a Dummy Variable: Feminist Approaches to Discrimination," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(1), pages 1-32.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rose Brewer & Cecilia Conrad & Mary King, 2002. "The Complexities and Potential of Theorizing Gender, Caste, Race, and Class," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 3-17.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Baker & Nicole M. Fortin, 2000. "Does Comparable Worth Work in a Decentralized Labor Market?," Working Papers baker-00-02, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    2. Michael Baker & Nicole Fortin, 2000. "Comparable Worth Comes to the Private Sector: The Case of Ontario," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0266, Econometric Society.
    3. Michael Baker & Nicole Fortin, 2004. "Comparable worth in a decentralized labour market: the case of Ontario," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(4), pages 850-878, November.
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3143-3259 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. B. T. Hirsch & D. A. Macpherson, "undated". "Wages, racial composition, and quality sorting in labor markets," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1038-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    6. Kevin T. Reilly & Tony S. Wirjanto, 1999. "The Proportion of Females in the Establishment: Discrimination, Preferences and Technology," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 25(s1), pages 73-94, November.
    7. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, 1988. "Econometric Analyses of the Empirical Consequences of Comparable Worth: What Have We Learned?," NBER Working Papers 2672, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Havet, Nathalie, 2004. "Écarts salariaux et disparités professionnelles entre sexes : développements théoriques et validité empirique," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 80(1), pages 5-39, Mars.
    9. Pilar González & Maria Clementina Santos & Luís Delfim Santos, 2005. "The Gender Wage Gap in Portugal: Recent Evolution and Decomposition," CEF.UP Working Papers 0505, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    10. Brown, Charles & Corcoran, Mary, 1997. "Sex-Based Differences in School Content and the Male-Female Wage Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 431-465, July.
    11. Mark R. Killingsworth, 2002. "Comparable Worth and Pay Equity: Recent Developments in the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 28(s1), pages 171-186, May.
    12. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2003. "Understanding International Differences in the Gender Pay Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 106-144, January.
    13. Stepan Jurajda, 2000. "Gender Wage Gap and Segregation in Late Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 306, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    14. Olivier Baguelin, 2005. "Understanding socio-demographic disparities in the labor market: the case for a motivation-based theory," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00196132, HAL.
    15. Anne Daly & Xin Meng & Akira Kawaguchi & Karen Mumford, 2006. "The Gender Wage Gap in Four Countries," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(257), pages 165-176, June.
    16. Callan, Tim & Wren, Anne, 1994. "Male-Female Wage Differentials: Analysis and Policy Issues," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number GRS163.
    17. Shoshana Neuman & Ronald L. Oaxaca, 2005. "Wage differentials in the 1990s in Israel: endowments, discrimination, and selectivity," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(3), pages 217-236, April.
    18. Brunow, Stephan & Jost, Oskar, 2019. "Wages of migrant and native employees in Germany: new light on an old issue," IAB-Discussion Paper 201910, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    19. Dorota Witkowska, 2013. "Gender Disparities in the Labor Market in the EU," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 19(4), pages 331-354, November.
    20. Rebekka Christopoulou & Theodora Kosma, 2009. "Skills and Wage Inequality in Greece: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data, 1995-2002," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 26, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    21. Richard B. Freeman & Jonathan S. Leonard, 1985. "Union Maids: Unions and the Female Workforce," NBER Working Papers 1652, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:4:y:1998:i:3:p:7-28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RFEC20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.
    Лучший частный хостинг