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Employment and Wage Prospects of Black, White, and Hispanic Women: Evidence from the 1980s and Early 1990s

Publication ,  Scholarly Edition
Tienda, M; Hotz, VJ; Ahituv, A; Bellessa, M

Since the mid-1970s, the U.S. experienced substantial changes in the industrial composition of employment and wages owing to energy price shocks, increased international competition, and technological change. As the share of total manufacturing employment declined and service employment expanded in both absolute and relative terms, wage inequality increased, particularly between college and high school educated workers. Furthermore, changes in the legal and institutional structure of U.S. labor markets, including a decline in the share of the labor force that is unionized and changes in the enforcement of affirmative action laws, constrained employment options for unskilled and semiskilled workers.

Duke Scholars