Culture, Human Capital, and the Earnings of West Indian Blacks

Authors

Stephen A. Woodbury, Michigan State University and W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ResearchFollow

Upjohn Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4474-2415

Publication Date

9-1-1993

Series

Upjohn Institute Working Paper No. 93-20

DOI

10.17848/wp93-20

Abstract

This paper offers an empirical analysis of West Indians' performance in the U.S. labor market, drawing adjusted comparisons between the earnings of native-born black American men of West Indian ancestry and the earnings of other native-born men, both black and white. The data required for these comparisons come from the 1980 Census of Population, in which native-born respondents reported their ancestry. The results offer a mixed picture of the success of West Indians, suggesting that native-born blacks of West Indian ancestry do have somewhat higher earnings than other native-born blacks, other things equal. Nevertheless, there is still a large earnings gap between native-born blacks of West Indian ancestry and native-born whites that cannot be explained by observable characteristics.

Issue Date

September 1993

Note

Also presented as a conference presentation at Eastern Economic Association Annual Meetings, Washington, DC (March 19-21, 1993); Department of Economics Workshop, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (October 25, 1991); and Midwest Economics Association Annual meeting, St. Louis, MO (April 4-6, 1991)

Subject Areas

LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Wages, health insurance and other benefits; Inequality