Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/58906 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6445
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using CPS data from 1979-2009 we examine how cyclical downturns and industry-specific demand shocks affect wage differentials between white non-Hispanic men and women, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, and African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Women's relative earnings are harmed by negative shocks; the wage disadvantage of African-Americans drops with negative shocks, which have slight negative effects on Hispanics' relative wages. Negative shocks also increase the earnings disadvantage of bad-looking workers. A theory of job search suggests two opposite-signed mechanisms that affect these wage differentials. It suggests greater absolute effects among job-movers, which is verified using the longitudinal component of the CPS.
Subjects: 
gender
race
ethnicity
JEL: 
E29
J71
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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