Decomposition of change in black-white wage gaps with industry and occupation, by gender and potential experience, 1979-1999 and 2000-2015
| New entrant men | New entrant women | |||||||||||||
| 1979-85 | 1985-96 | 1996-99 | 1979-99 | 2000-07 | 2007-15 | 2000-15 | 1979-85 | 1985-96 | 1996-99 | 1979-99 | 2000-07 | 2007-15 | 2000-15 | |
| Total change in gap (total observables + total unobservables) | 5.63% | 0.66% | -4.69% | 2.83% | 1.48% | 4.78% | 6.34% | 5.36% | 6.19% | -3.29% | 10.35% | 1.62% | 8.61% | 10.41% |
| Contribution from: | ||||||||||||||
| Total observables (quantities + prices) | 3.45 | -0.71 | -0.93 | 1.26 | 1.76 | 0.92 | 2.66 | 1.93 | 5.05 | 0.33 | 8.05 | 0.93 | 3.95 | 4.95 |
| Total quantities (education + experience + region & metro + industry + occupation) | 0.43 | -0.26 | -2.05 | -1.00 | 1.13 | 0.43 | 1.55 | 2.24 | 4.44 | -0.30 | 7.20 | 1.45 | 3.75 | 5.25 |
| Education, experience, region, metro status | -1.15 | 0.06 | -1.59 | -1.57 | 0.70 | 0.69 | 1.39 | 1.78 | 4.25 | -0.16 | 6.68 | 1.05 | 2.97 | 4.06 |
| Industry | 0.31 | 0.66 | -0.19 | 0.98 | 0.47 | 0.41 | 0.88 | -0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.00 | -0.03 | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Occcupation | 1.27 | -0.98 | -0.26 | -0.41 | -0.03 | -0.67 | -0.72 | 0.49 | 0.18 | -0.16 | 0.52 | 0.43 | 0.76 | 1.19 |
| Total prices (education + experience + region & metro + industry + occupation) | 3.02 | -0.45 | 1.12 | 2.26 | 0.63 | 0.49 | 1.11 | -0.31 | 0.61 | 0.63 | 0.85 | -0.52 | 0.20 | -0.30 |
| Education, experience, region, metro status | 2.18 | 1.34 | 0.00 | 3.36 | 0.01 | 1.09 | 1.12 | -0.58 | 1.12 | 0.43 | 1.19 | -0.28 | 0.55 | 0.30 |
| Industry | 0.12 | -1.50 | 0.61 | -1.53 | 0.07 | -0.72 | -0.67 | -0.17 | -0.10 | 0.46 | -0.04 | -0.19 | -0.10 | -0.29 |
| Occupation | 0.72 | -0.28 | 0.51 | 0.43 | 0.55 | 0.12 | 0.65 | 0.44 | -0.41 | -0.25 | -0.31 | -0.05 | -0.25 | -0.31 |
| Total unobservables (discrimination + wage inequality) | 2.18 | 1.37 | -3.76 | 1.57 | -0.28 | 3.86 | 3.69 | 3.43 | 1.15 | -3.62 | 2.30 | 0.69 | 4.66 | 5.46 |
| “Quantities” (discrimination) | 1.47 | 1.58 | -3.83 | 1.27 | -0.60 | 2.88 | 2.37 | 3.21 | 0.83 | -3.43 | 1.83 | 0.76 | 3.86 | 4.70 |
| “Prices” (wage inequality) | 0.71 | -0.21 | 0.07 | 0.30 | 0.32 | 0.98 | 1.32 | 0.21 | 0.31 | -0.18 | 0.47 | -0.07 | 0.80 | 0.76 |
| Experienced men | Experienced women | |||||||||||||
| 1979-85 | 1985-96 | 1996-99 | 1979-99 | 2000-07 | 2007-15 | 2000-15 | 1979-85 | 1985-96 | 1996-99 | 1979-99 | 2000-07 | 2007-15 | 2000-15 | |
| Total change in gap (total observables + total unobservables) | 2.50% | 2.22% | -2.03% | 3.73% | 2.24% | -0.29% | 1.88% | 2.29% | 5.78% | -0.91% | 8.65% | 1.56% | 3.13% | 4.73% |
| Contribution from: | ||||||||||||||
| Total observables (quantities + prices) | 2.82 | -2.03 | 0.06 | -0.42 | 0.79 | 0.66 | 1.44 | 1.98 | 1.73 | 0.32 | 3.85 | 1.91 | 1.96 | 3.87 |
| Total quantities (education + experience + region & metro + industry + occupation) | 0.26 | -2.58 | -0.87 | -3.51 | -0.21 | -0.69 | -0.91 | 1.35 | 0.57 | -0.40 | 1.56 | 1.33 | 1.06 | 2.38 |
| Education, experience, region, metro status | -0.77 | -1.98 | -0.84 | -3.51 | -0.74 | -0.34 | -1.06 | 1.35 | 0.17 | -0.54 | 0.98 | 1.07 | 0.14 | 1.18 |
| Industry | 0.21 | 0.43 | -0.06 | 0.68 | 0.33 | 0.12 | 0.45 | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 0.16 | 0.02 | -0.01 | 0.02 |
| Occupation | 0.82 | -1.03 | 0.03 | -0.68 | 0.19 | -0.47 | -0.30 | -0.09 | 0.34 | 0.13 | 0.42 | 0.24 | 0.93 | 1.18 |
| Total prices (education + experience + region & metro + industry + occupation) | 2.56 | 0.55 | 0.93 | 3.09 | 1.00 | 1.35 | 2.35 | 0.63 | 1.15 | 0.72 | 2.29 | 0.58 | 0.90 | 1.49 |
| Education, experience, region, metro status | 2.80 | 1.81 | 0.16 | 4.50 | 0.19 | 1.21 | 1.43 | 0.52 | 1.27 | 0.39 | 2.20 | -0.06 | 0.70 | 0.65 |
| Industry | -0.10 | -1.14 | 0.33 | -1.37 | 0.11 | -0.03 | 0.09 | -0.76 | -0.11 | 0.62 | -0.41 | -0.03 | 0.50 | 0.49 |
| Occupation | -0.14 | -0.11 | 0.44 | -0.03 | 0.69 | 0.16 | 0.84 | 0.86 | -0.01 | -0.28 | 0.51 | 0.67 | -0.30 | 0.34 |
| Total unobservables (discrimination + wage inequality) | -0.32 | 4.25 | -2.09 | 4.15 | 1.45 | -0.95 | 0.44 | 0.32 | 4.06 | -1.23 | 4.80 | -0.35 | 1.17 | 0.86 |
| “Quantities” (discrimination) | -1.63 | 4.31 | -2.00 | 3.27 | 1.01 | -2.53 | -1.61 | 0.36 | 3.76 | -1.15 | 4.49 | -0.53 | 0.56 | 0.06 |
| “Prices” (wage inequality) | 1.31 | -0.06 | -0.09 | 0.88 | 0.44 | 1.59 | 2.05 | -0.04 | 0.30 | -0.08 | 0.31 | 0.18 | 0.61 | 0.80 |
Note: Total unobservables include factors such as racial discrimination, unobservable skills, and wage inequality. Total observables include education, experience, region of residence, and metro status.
Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) Outgoing Rotation Group microdata