Minority Concentration and Earnings Inequality: Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians Compared

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of the racial and ethnic composition of labor markets on earnings inequality among black, Hispanic, Asian, and white men to determine whether the influence on earnings of minority labor-market concentration differs by educational level. Consistent with other studies, the results, based on the 1980 5% Public Use Microdata Sample, show that Hispanic and nonwhite workers, compared with their white counterparts, lost earnings from residence and work in labor markets with a large share of monority residents and that this relationship was especially pronounced for black men. Further refinement of these results reveals additional differentation by educational groups: the earnings losses of black, Hispanic, and Asian men associated with residence in areas of high minority concentration are greatest among workers with college education and lowest among those who have not completed high school. That college-educated whites gained most from minority concentration emphasizes how ...