The Measurement of Racial Discrimination in Pay between Job Categories: Theory and Test

The traditional model of taste discrimination in labor markets presumes perfect substitution, making it unsuitable for the measurement of discrimination across job assignments. We extend the model to explain cross-assignment discrimination and test it on data from Major League Baseball. A competitive firm with a Generalized Leontief production function fills each job assignment with whites and nonwhites in an environment of customer prejudice. According to the model, cross-assignment discrimination depends upon racial productivity differences, the productivity x prejudice interaction, technology, relative labor supply and racial integration. We find strong evidence of ceteris paribus racial salary differences between hitters and pitchers.wages, discrimination, imperfect substitutability, integration

Cross-Assignment Discrimination in Pay: A Test Case of Major League Baseball

The traditional Becker/Arrow style model of discrimination depicts majority and minority and workers as perfectly substitutable inputs, implying that all workers have the same job assignment. The model is only appropriate for determining whether pay differences between, for example, whites and non-whites doing job assignment A are attributable to prejudice ('within-assignment discrimination'); It is inappropriate, however, for determining whether pay differences between whites in job assignment A and non-whites in job assignment B reflect discriminatory behaviour ('cross-assignment discrimination'). We test the model of such cross assignment discrimination developed by Bodvarsson and Sessions (2011) using data on Major League Baseball hitters and pitchers for four different seasons during the 1990s, a decade during which monopsony power fell. We find strong evidence of ceteris paribus racial pay differences between hitters and pitchers, as well as evidence that cross-assignment discrimination varies with labour market structure.wage discrimination, complementarity, monopsony power

The Effects of Aging on Migration in a Transition Economy: The Case of China

China has been experiencing two major demographic sea changes since the late 1970s: (i) Internal migration, primarily rural-to-urban, on a scale that dwarfs all other countries at any time in history; and (ii) a shift in its age distribution. The basic question posed in this paper is: How are aging and migration related in post-reform China? We argue that there is probably two-way causality: Shifts in the origin region's age distribution induce changes in the scale and structure of migration, but out- (in-) migration shifts the origin's (destination's) age distribution. We examine theoretically and empirically the relationship between origin age distribution and interprovincial migration in China using province-level census data for 1985-2005. The goal of the paper is two-fold: (i) To develop a more refined theoretical model that explains how a migrant's age affects his/her likelihood of migration; and (ii) to obtain unbiased estimates of the effect of age on the interprovincial migration rate. Our theory section is motivated by the observation that, while most researchers recognize the importance of including age in theoretical and empirical models of migration, the exact reasons for why age affects migration have not been analyzed very thoroughly. We model the migration decision and demonstrate that there is an ambiguous relationship between age and the likelihood of migration. Implications of the theory are tested with an extended modified gravity model using OLS and 2SLS.internal migration, age distribution, reforms

The Regulation of Migration in a Transition Economy: China’s Hukou System

Unlike most countries, China regulates internal migration. Public benefits, access to good quality housing, schools, health care, and attractive employment opportunities are available only to those who have local registration (Hukou). Coincident with the deepening of economic reforms, Hukou has gradually been relaxed since the 1980s, helping to explain an extraordinary surge of migration within China. In this study of interprovincial Chinese migration, we address two questions. First, what is a sensible way of incorporating Hukou into theoretical and empirical models of internal migration? Second, to what extent has Hukou influenced the scale and structure of migration? We incorporate two alternative measures of Hukou into a modified gravity model – the unregistered migrant's: (i) perceived probability of securing Hukou; and (ii) perceived probability of securing employment opportunities available only to those with Hukou. In contrast to previous studies, our model includes a much wider variety of control especially important for the Chinese case. Analyzing the relationship between Hukou and migration using census data for 1985-90, 1995-2000 and 2000-05, we find that migration is very sensitive to Hukou, with the greatest sensitivity occurring during the middle period.internal migration, Hukou, migrant networks, reforms

Arab-U.S. Migration: The Effects of Exchange Rates, Politics and Oil

We hypothesize that exchange rates, commodity prices and geopolitical instability can affect international migration. If migrants send their earnings home, then appreciation of the destination country’s currency will make remittances more valuable in the home country, raising the likelihood of migration. Higher commodity prices in the home country can, on the one hand, discourage migration because of improved labor market opportunities at home, but can, on the other, encourage migration because greater prosperity makes relocation more affordable. Some parts of the World, for example the Middle East, have experienced considerable geopolitical instability, which may have induced greater levels of supply-push migration to more stable parts of the World. Our test case is the migration of persons from the Arab region to the USA during 1992-2004, a period characterized by volatility in Arab-U.S. exchange rates, oil prices and political conditions. We estimate a fixed effects model of the Arab emigration rate using a sample of 182 observations, which includes 14 countries (10 Arab and 4 others in a control group). One of our control variables is the real relative return to remittances, which is the ratio of the exchange rate-adjusted real wage in the USA to the exchange rateadjusted real wage in the UK. Our econometric results demonstrate that: (i) Arab demand for U.S. visas is positively and significantly related to the real return to remitting, although the relationship is stronger for total visa demand than for employment visa demand; (ii) A one-dollar increase in the real price of oil from its mean will increase the flow of Arab migrants to the USA by over 505 persons; (iii) For every Arab who has migrated in the past, roughly 5 persons will follow him; and (iv) While the 9/11 terrorist attacks ceteris paribus stimulated migration, the 2003 Iraq-American war dampened it

Immigration of Highly Skilled Professionals: Discrimination in Professional Baseball?

Are highly skilled foreign professionals paid differently than their native-born counterparts? To address this question, this study focuses on a particular profession with substantial inflows of immigrants, in which human capital is readily transferrable: Major League Baseball (MLB). Racial discrimination in professional sports has received considerable attention, but it remains to be seen whether there has been differential treatment of foreign athletes. Focusing on a 1997-1998 sample of 557 MLB players, we find that foreign players are indeed treated differently than native-born players, favorably in some respects and unfavorably in others. Moreover, when controlling for birthplace, the extent of racial discrimination must be reconsidered

Hispanic Immigration to the United States

This chapter presents some of the exceptional characteristics of recent Hispanic immigration to the United States. In 2005, there were nearly 40 million Hispanic immigrants and descendants of Hispanic immigrants living in the U.S. The assimilation experience of this large cultural group does not seem to be following the path past immigrants to the U.S. followed. Most third generation Hispanics in the U.S. still find themselves with income and education levels below the U.S. averages. Most forecasts predict that about 60 million Hispanics and Hispanic-Americans will be living in the U.S. by 2030

A Test of Congressional Voting on Immigration Restrictions

Immigration policy is supplied endogenously through a political process that weighs the impacts of immigration on factor owners, together with other interests, in determining policy outcomes. The relative significance of constituent interests and legislator ideology in shaping policy is tested by identifying the correlates of congressional voting on immigration legislation. Conservative lawmakers are found to generally support stricter immigration controls. Legislators representing border states and urban areas favor looser restrictions, possibly reflecting the political influence of recent immigrants. There is evidence that immigration reform is a normal good and that substitutability between native and immigrant labor promotes tighter immigration restrictions

The Regulation Of Migration In A Transition Economy: China'S Hukou System

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87043/1/j.1465-7287.2010.00224.x.pd

Monitoring with No Moral Hazard: The Case of Small Vessel Commercial Fishing

This paper examines the role of the skipper as a monitor of crew members on fishing boats. In contrast to the usual (principal-agent) approach, there is no moral hazard. Each worker's output is variable and average performance is not known. A monitor is hired to estimate average performance. A theory and test of share differentials between monitors and workers is developed. Monitoring is treated as a sequential sampling experiment. Share differentials depend on worker-specific output variability, size of labor force, and average team output. Empirical results using Oregon fishing data offer strong support for the model.