abstract: 'The observed gap in average wages between black men and white men

  inadequately reflects the relative economic standing of blacks, who

  suffer from a high rate of joblessness. The authors estimate the

  black-white gap in hourly wages from 1980 to 1999 adjusting for the

  sample selection effect of labor inactivity. Among working- age men in

  1999, accounting for labor inactivity - including prison and jail

  incarceration - leads to an increase of 7\% - 20\% in the blackwhite

  wage gap. Adjusting for sample selectivity among men ages 22 - 30 in

  1999 increases the wage gap by as much as 58\%. Increasing selection

  bias, which can be attributed to incarceration and conventional

  joblessness, explains about two- thirds of the rise in black relative

  wages among young men between 1985 and 1998. Apparent improvement in the

  economic position of young black men is thus largely an artifact of

  rising joblessness fueled by the growth in incarceration during the

  1990s.'
affiliation: 'Western, B (Corresponding Author), Princeton Univ, Dept Sociol, Wallace
  Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA.

  Princeton Univ, Dept Sociol, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA.

  Univ Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA.'
author: Western, B and Pettit, B
author-email: western@opr.princeton.edu
author_list:
- family: Western
  given: B
- family: Pettit
  given: B
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1086/432780
eissn: 1537-5390
files: []
issn: 0002-9602
journal: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
keywords-plus: 'CIVIL-RIGHTS POLICY; LABOR-MARKET; DECLINING SIGNIFICANCE;

  RACIAL-DIFFERENCES; ECONOMIC PROGRESS; RELATIVE EARNINGS; IMPACT;

  INCOME; MEN; JOBLESSNESS'
language: English
month: SEP
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '50'
pages: 553-578
papis_id: 8c5579b1503561212ec35ff30baf7d1b
ref: Western2005blackwhitewage
times-cited: '216'
title: Black-white wage inequality, employment rates, and incarceration
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000233241400005
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '35'
volume: '111'
web-of-science-categories: Sociology
year: '2005'