Using data for three cohorts of women in the PSID, we show that annual earnings inequality fell sharply between the late 1960s and the mid-1990s, with a large decline in the component attributable to the extensive margin. We then fit earnings-generating models that incorporate both intensive- and extensive-margin dynamics to data for the three cohorts. Our models suggest that more than 80% of the decline in female earnings inequality can be attributed to a weakening of the link between family-based factors (i.e., children and the presence and incomes of partners) and the intensive and extensive margins of earnings determination.

We are pleased to introduce this volume of papers, all of which were presented at a conference in honor of JohnDiNardo held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in September 2018. After battling leukemia for close to a decade, John left us on August 26, 2017, at the age of 56. The conference was an opportunity for colleagues, coauthors, students, and friends to celebrate John’s life and academic achievements. The proud son of Italian immigrants, John was born and raised in Allen Park, Michigan. He spent most of his academic career at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he earned an undergraduate degree and a masters of public policy. After completing his PhD at Princeton in 1990, John spent a year at the RAND Corporation before joining the faculty at the University of California, Irvine, in 1991. He moved back to Michigan in 2001, where he spent the remainder of his career. At this point, convention calls for a discussion of the main research contributions of the scholar being honored, followed by a summary of the contributed papers. However, following convention is not what best describes John DiNardo’s life and career. Armed with a trademark irreverence, a

We measure the effects of firm policies on racial pay differences in Brazil. Non-Whites are less likely to be hired by high-wage firms, explaining about 20 percent of the racial wage gap for both genders. Firm-specific pay premiums for non-Whites are also compressed relative to Whites, contributing another 5 percent for that gap. A counterfactual analysis reveals that about two-thirds of the underrepresentation of non-Whites at higher-wage firms is explained by race-neutral skill-based sorting. Non-skill-based sorting and differential wage setting are largest for college-educated workers, suggesting that the allocative costs of discriminatory hiring and pay policies may be relatively large in Brazil.