The Impact of Industrial and Occupational Structure on Black-White Employment Allocation

This research focuses on the factors associated with the differential distribution of black and white men across labor market positions. Hypotheses concerning the effects of industrial and occupational characteristics are derived using an eclectic approach which draws heavily on the labor market segmentation literature. Incorporated, as well, are ideas from neoclassical and institutional economics and from the occupational segregation and class approaches in sociology. The results raise some intriguing puzzles in terms of the contrasting effects of occupational versus industrial unionization and the opposite-signed effects of market power and size. Overall, the results provide a mixed evaluation of both the neoclassical approach and the dual economy approach to the explanation of black-white employment differences. Perhaps the most important result from this research is the demonstration of the existence and form of the systematic patterning of the allocation of blacks and whites to labor market positions, net of the influence of their individual work-related characteristics.