Experience, Tenure, and Wage Growth of Young Black and White Men

Abstract

This paper studies the source of differences in wage growth between young black and white workers. Focusing on terminal high school graduates from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimate the returns to on-the-job tenure and general labor market experience using ordinary least squares, Altonji and Shakotko, and Topel estimators. Results from all three estimators indicate that returns to general experience for black workers trail those for white workers, but that black workers earn equal if not higher returns to tenure than do white workers.