Search Results

Author: Blackburn, Mckinley L.
Resulting in 10 citations.
1. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Decomposing Wage Variation: A Comment on Michael P. Keane's "Individual Heterogeneity and Interindustry Wage Differentials"
Journal of Human Resources 30,4 (September 1995): 853-860.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/146235
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Heterogeneity; Wage Differentials; Wage Equations; Wage Theory

(Response to Michael Keane Article on Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 28, P. 134, 1993.) Michael P. Keane (1993) uses panel data to control for the effects of time-invariant individual characteristics when estimating the effects of industry on wages. He concludes that these individual effects can account for 84 percent of the industry-associated variation found in typical cross-section studies. The author argues that this conclusion is based on a misleading wage variance decomposition that would tend to overstate the importance of individual effects. A reconsideration of Keane's results shows that his estimates are of a similar magnitude to those of earlier studies that attempt to control for individual ability.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. "Decomposing Wage Variation: A Comment on Michael P. Keane's "Individual Heterogeneity and Interindustry Wage Differentials"." Journal of Human Resources 30,4 (September 1995): 853-860.
2. Blackburn, McKinley L.
The Role of Test Scores in Explaining Race and Gender Differences in Wages
Economics of Education Review 23,6 (December 2004): 555-576.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775704000330
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Gender Differences; Wage Differentials; Wages

Previous research has suggested that skills reflected in test-score performance on tests such as the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) can account for some of the racial differences in average wages. I use a more complete set of test scores available with the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Cohort to reconsider this evidence, and the results suggest a conclusion similar to earlier research. I also examine the ability of test scores to account for gender differences in wages. Women do not perform as well as men on two math-oriented tests, but they perform better on two speed-oriented tests that appear to have a strong relationship with wages. On net, the test-score difference can help account for only a small part of the gender difference in wages (for any race). Further results suggest that unexplained race and gender differences in wages have been growing over time for the 1979 cohort. [Copyright 2004 Elsevier]
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. "The Role of Test Scores in Explaining Race and Gender Differences in Wages." Economics of Education Review 23,6 (December 2004): 555-576.
3. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Welfare Effects on the Marital Decisions of Never-Married Mothers
Journal of Human Resources 35,1 (Winter 2000): 116-142.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/146358
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Benefits; Marriage; Mothers; Racial Differences; Welfare

The economic theory of marriage suggests that more generous welfare benefits should serve to reduce the probability of marriage among mothers who have given birth out of wedlock. This relationship is explored using data on never-married mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Only very limited evidence indicates that higher welfare payments lower the probability of marriage for nonblack never-married mothers. For black never-married mothers, the results suggest that higher benefits are associated with higher marriage rates.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. "Welfare Effects on the Marital Decisions of Never-Married Mothers." Journal of Human Resources 35,1 (Winter 2000): 116-142.
4. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Bloom, David E.
Neumark, David B.
Fertility Timing, Wages, and Human Capital
Journal of Population Economics 6,1 (February 1993):1-30.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/g7757p8352823q02/
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Fertility; First Birth; Human Capital Theory; Life Cycle Research; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Women who have first births relatively late in life earn higher wages. This paper offers an explanation of this fact based on a simple life-cycle model of human capital investment and timing of first birth. The model yields conditions (that are plausibly satisfied) under which late childbearers will tend to invest more heavily in human capital than early childbearers. The empirical analysis finds results consistent with the higher wages of late childbearers arising primarily through greater measurable human capital investment. Revised, July 1992. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the March 1989 annual meetings of the Population Association of America.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L., David E. Bloom and David B. Neumark. "Fertility Timing, Wages, and Human Capital." Journal of Population Economics 6,1 (February 1993):1-30.
5. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Neumark, David B.
Are OLS Estimates of the Return to Schooling Biased Downward? Another Look
Review of Economics and Statistics 77,2 (May 1995): 217-230.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2109861
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Educational Returns; Endogeneity; Human Capital; Modeling; Occupational Choice; Schooling; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Training, On-the-Job; Wage Equations

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The authors examine evidence on bias in OLS estimates of the economic return to schooling. To study omitted- ability bias, they use test scores available in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth as proxies for ability allowing for measurement error in these test scores. The authors also explore biases from the endogeneity of schooling or experience, or measurement error in these variables. In their data, OLS estimation including test scores appears to be appropriate and indicates an upward bias of roughly 40 percent in the OLS estimate ignoring ability. This contrasts with evidence from other recent research using different statistical experiments to purge schooling of its correlation with the wage equation error.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. and David B. Neumark. "Are OLS Estimates of the Return to Schooling Biased Downward? Another Look." Review of Economics and Statistics 77,2 (May 1995): 217-230.
6. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Neumark, David B.
Efficiency Wages, Inter-Industry Wage Differentials, and the Returns to Ability
Working Paper, Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Federal Reserve Board, Washington DC, 1988
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Federal Reserve Board
Keyword(s): Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Earnings; Education; Endogeneity; I.Q.; Industrial Classification; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Occupations; Schooling; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wages

The empirical regularity that has most frequently been offered as evidence consistent with efficiency wage models is the existence of persistent inter-industry wage differentials in wage regressions estimated for individuals. A principal competing explanation of these differentials is that they are generated by differences across workers in unobserved ability. While fixed-effects wage equations have been estimated to account for this, the estimates may suffer from measurement error and endogeneity of the decision to change industries. This paper takes an alternative, direct approach, by incorporating ability directly in a MIMIC model of earnings, with test scores serving as indicators of unobserved ability, and family background measures serving as causes. The models are estimated using data from the NLS Young Men's cohort. The results indicate that neither inter-industry nor inter- occupation wage differentials are attributable to differences in unobserved ability.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. and David B. Neumark. "Efficiency Wages, Inter-Industry Wage Differentials, and the Returns to Ability." Working Paper, Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Federal Reserve Board, Washington DC, 1988.
7. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Neumark, David B.
Omitted-Ability Bias and the Increase in the Return to Schooling
Journal of Labor Economics 11,3 (July 1993): 521-544.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2535084
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Educational Returns; Schooling; Wages

During the 1980s there were sharp increases in the return to schooling estimated with conventional wage regressions. An analysis explores whether the relationship between ability and schooling changed over this period in ways that would have increased the schooling coefficient in these regressions. The empirical results reject the hypothesis that an increase in the bias of the schooling coefficient, due to a change in the relationship between ability and schooling, has contributed to observed increases in the return to schooling. It is also found that the increase in the schooling return has occurred for workers with relatively high levels of academic ability. This implies that existing estimates of the increase in the return to schooling overstate increases in the true incentive for the marginal individual to acquire schooling. Supply-side explanations are plausible in explaining an increase in the return to education for high-ability workers only. (ABI/Inform)
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. and David B. Neumark. "Omitted-Ability Bias and the Increase in the Return to Schooling." Journal of Labor Economics 11,3 (July 1993): 521-544.
8. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Neumark, David B.
Unobserved Ability, Efficiency Wages, and Interindustry Wage Differentials
Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1421-1436.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/4/1421.full.pdf+html
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Men
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials

An important area of research on the empirical validity of efficiency wage theory has focused on the role of industry effects in explaining variation in wages across workers. In this paper we test the unobserved ability explanation of interindustry and interoccupation wage differentials by explicitly incorporating measures of unobserved ability into wage regressions. The procedure we use may be an improvement over past attempts to account for unobserved ability using standard first difference estimators, since it is less likely to suffer from biases due to measurement error or selectivity. The major limitation of our approach is that we cannot control for variation in ability that is not reflected in the test scores that we use as indicators of ability. Our empirical results imply that interindustry and interoccupation wage differentials are, for the most part, not attributable to variation in unobserved labor quality or ability. Our estimates indicate that just over one tenth of the variation in interindustry wage differentials, and less than one fourth of the variation in interoccupation wage differentials, reflect differences in unobserved ability.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. and David B. Neumark. "Unobserved Ability, Efficiency Wages, and Interindustry Wage Differentials." Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1421-1436.
9. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Schultz, T. Paul
The Effects of The Welfare System on Marital Dissolution
Journal of Population Economics 16,3 (August 2003): 477-501.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/wmny7w3n2femph8y/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Divorce; Marital Dissolution; Marriage; Welfare

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The economic theory of marriage predicts that the partners' expectations of greater financial resources outside of marriage should increase the probability of marital dissolution. One potential implication is that marriages should be less stable in states with higher AFDC benefits. I study this implication empirically using data on separations and divorces among marriages involving women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. I find no supporting evidence that higher welfare benefits lead to increased rates of marital dissolution among married women with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. and T. Paul Schultz. "The Effects of The Welfare System on Marital Dissolution." Journal of Population Economics 16,3 (August 2003): 477-501.
10. Neumark, David B.
Blackburn, McKinley L.
Are OLS Estimates of the Return to Schooling Biased Downward? Another Look
Unpublished paper. Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1992
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
Keyword(s): Educational Returns; Endogeneity; Fertility; Schooling; Wage Rates

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We examine evidence on omitted-ability bias in estimates of the economic return to schooling, using proxies for unobserved ability. We consider measurement error in these ability proxies and the potential endogeneity of both experience and schooling, and examine wages at labor market entry and later. Including ability proxies reduces the estimate of the return to schooling, and instrumenting for these proxies reduces the estimated return still further. Instrumenting for schooling leads to considerably higher estimates of the return to schooling, although only for wages at labor market entry. This estimated return generally reverts to being near (although still above) the OLS estimate if we allow experience to be endogenous. In contrast, for observations at least a few years after labor market entry, the evidence indicates that OLS estimates of the return to schooling that ignore omitted ability are, if anything, biased upward rather than downward.
Bibliography Citation
Neumark, David B. and McKinley L. Blackburn. "Are OLS Estimates of the Return to Schooling Biased Downward? Another Look." Unpublished paper. Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1992.