This analysis compares the labor supply of black women in extended and nonextended households in the United States. two foci of the study are 1) the relationship between the labor supply of grandmothers and single mothers in extended households and 2) the interaction of labor force participation human capital accumulation and child care decisions. The study estimates a labor supply model using 1980 census data that endogenizes the decision to attend school. (EXCERPT)

Wages for black and white workers are substantially lower in occupations with a high density of black employees, following standard controls. Such correlations can exist absent discrimination or as a result of discrimination. In wage level equations, partial correlations fall sharply after controlling for occupational skills. Longitudinal estimates accounting for worker heterogeneity indicate little wage change associated with changes in racial composition. Results support a “quality sorting” rather than discrimination explanation, with racial density serving as an index of unmeasured skills. Discrimination reflected in racial wage gaps occurs within occupations or across occupations in a manner uncorrelated with racial composition.

This article offers an explanation of the postinjury employment, wage, and accommodation patterns of permanently impaired workers. In particular, it argues that the observed tendency of time‐ofaccident employers to rehire at the preinjury wage, accommodate, and then, perhaps, quickly terminate the impaired worker, is a manifestation of the worker's preferred contract. That contract is characterized by wage inflexibility. By removing the opportunity for the postinjury employer to underreport productivity, this contract creates an incentive for the worker to attempt to functionally adapt to the impairment, thereby increasing expected lifetime utility.

Occupational sex segregation and its relationship with wages during 1973-93 are examined. Wage level and wage change models are estimated using Current Population Survey data matched with measures of occupational skills and job disamenities. Standard analysis confirms that wage levels are substantially lower in predominantly female occupations. Gender composition effects are reduced by about a quarter for women and by over one-half for men following control for skill-related occupational characteristics. Longitudinal analysis indicates that two-thirds or more of the standard gender composition effect is accounted for by occupational characteristics and unmeasured worker skill or taste differences. Copyright 1995 by University of Chicago Press.

This study provides rationale for the underrepresentation of women in the pension sector and examines the consequences for the gender wage gap. For a given set of observed characteristics, a woman is 11-19 percent less likely than a man to have a pension. Of the unexplained portion of the gender wage gap, 10-38 percent is due to unexplained differences in pension coverage. Finally, consistent with a screening effect of pensions, women are paid more equally in the pension sector. Copyright 1990 by MIT Press.