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Author: Neal, Derek A.
Resulting in 12 citations.
1. Johnson, William R.
Kitamura, Yuichi
Neal, Derek A.
Evaluating a Simple Method for Estimating Black-White Gaps in Median Wages
The American Economic Review 90,2 (May 2000): 339-343.
Also: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.90.2.339
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Discrimination; Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Employment; Racial Differences; Wage Differentials

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

A model is developed to estimate black-white gaps in median wages. Data were gathered from average wages earned during the period 1990-91 and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Findings reveal that imputing wages of zero for unemployed individuals may provide a reasonable method for the estimation of median wage regressions among men. Findings imply that data drawn from short panels rather than single-year cross-sections may mitigate the need for additional imputations and reduce the occurrence of imputation error. Tables show median regression results using various wage imputation methods and new wage observations two years after and two years before the original sample. Copyright: Database Producer Copyright (c) the H.W. Wilson Company. All rights reserved.
Bibliography Citation
Johnson, William R., Yuichi Kitamura and Derek A. Neal. "Evaluating a Simple Method for Estimating Black-White Gaps in Median Wages." The American Economic Review 90,2 (May 2000): 339-343.
2. Johnson, William R.
Neal, Derek A.
Basic Skills and the Black-White Earnings Gap
In: The Black-White Test Score Gap. C. Jencks, and M. Phillips, et al., eds. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1998: pp. 480-497
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Brookings Institution
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Earnings; Education; Ethnic Differences; Labor Market Outcomes; Racial Differences; Skills; Wage Gap; Wages, Youth

Chapter: Examined the relationship between basic skills and annual earnings, using scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test for the young members of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth as a measure of the skills that young adults bring to the labor market. Labor market outcomes were measured when workers were in their late 20s and early 30s. Findings indicate that skills are important determinants of wages and earnings. Skill differences explain a substantial part of the wage and earnings variation among Blacks, among Whites, and between Blacks and Whites. For men, the Black-White gap in annual earnings is more than twice as large as the gap in hourly wages. Further, the racial difference not explained by skills is three times as large for annual earnings as for hourly wages. The low earnings of Black men are partly attributable to the fact that less educated Black men work significantly fewer hours and weeks than their White counterparts. Less work experience during their early years in the job market has a notable effect on the wage gap faced by less educated Black men in their late 20s and early 30s. Finally, the relationship between basic skills and eventual earnings is stronger among Black men than White men. ((c) 1998 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved):
Bibliography Citation
Johnson, William R. and Derek A. Neal. "Basic Skills and the Black-White Earnings Gap" In: The Black-White Test Score Gap. C. Jencks, and M. Phillips, et al., eds. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1998: pp. 480-497
3. Neal, Derek A.
Interindustry Variation in Wages and Turnover
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Virginia, 1992
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Industrial Training; Mobility; Skilled Workers; Skills; Transfers, Skill; Wage Models

In the 1960's, human capital theorists explained inter-industry variation in wages and turnover by arguing that firms in high-wage industries invest heavily in firm-specific training. However, recent papers by efficiency wage theorists offer a different interpretation. Efficiency wage models illustrate circumstances that might induce firms to ration jobs and provide wage rents for their workers. Therefore, advocates of efficiency wage models view the negative correlation between wages and turnover across industries as evidence of job rationing in high-wage industries. This thesis develops a model of training choice that offers an alternative explanation for the negative correlation between wages and turnover across industries. The insight of the model is that, among trained workers who switch industries, the most able workers must forfeit compensation for the largest stocks of industry-specific skills. Since costs of industry switching rise with worker ability, the probability of industry switching declines with ability.
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. Interindustry Variation in Wages and Turnover. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Virginia, 1992.
4. Neal, Derek A.
The Complexity of Job Mobility Among Young Men
NBER Working Paper No. 6662, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1998.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W6662
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Job Satisfaction; Life Cycle Research; Mobility, Occupational; Occupational Aspirations; Work History

Examines how complexity changes during a worker\'s life cycle, and workers' concerns with his or her match with career and employer; based on work history data about 3,003 cases from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY).
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Complexity of Job Mobility Among Young Men." NBER Working Paper No. 6662, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1998.
5. Neal, Derek A.
The Complexity of Job Mobility Among Young Men
Journal of Labor Economics 17,2 (April 1999): 237-261.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/209919
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Job Search; Labor Economics; Mobility, Job; Mobility, Occupational

The model of job search involves both employer matches and career matches. Workers may change employers without changing careers but cannot search over possible lines of work while working for one employer. The optimal policy implies a two-stage search strategy in which workers search over types of work first. The patterns of job changes observed in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth supports this two-stage search policy. Among male workers who are changing jobs, those who have previously changed employers while working in their current career are much less likely to change careers during the current job change.
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Complexity of Job Mobility Among Young Men." Journal of Labor Economics 17,2 (April 1999): 237-261.
6. Neal, Derek A.
The Effect of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Attainment
NBER Working Paper No. 5353, National Bureau of Economic Research, November 1995.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5353
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Education, Secondary; Educational Attainment; Minorities; Minority Groups; Schooling

Based on data from the National Catholic Educational Association and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the effect of Catholic secondary schooling on high-school graduation rates and also examines Catholic schooling's effect on college graduation rates and future wages. The paper uses data from the National Catholic Educational and the Survey of Churches and Church Membership to construct measures of access to Catholic secondary schooling for each county in the United States. These measures of access provide potential instruments for Catholic school attendance. The results indicate that Catholic secondary schools are geographically concentrated in urban areas and that Catholic schooling greatly increases educational attainment among urban minorities. The gains from Catholic schooling are modest for urban whites and negligible for suburban whites. Related analyses suggest that urban minorities benefit greatly from access to Catholic schooling primarily because the public schools available to them are quite poor. Full-text available on-line: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5353
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Effect of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Attainment." NBER Working Paper No. 5353, National Bureau of Economic Research, November 1995.
7. Neal, Derek A.
The Effects of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Achievement
Journal of Labor Economics 15,1 (1997): 98-123.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2535316
Cohort(s): NLS General
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): College Graduates; Education, Secondary; High School Completion/Graduates; Minorities; Racial Differences; Urbanization/Urban Living

This article examines the effect of Catholic secondary schooling on high school graduation rates, college graduation rates, and future wages. The article introduces new measures of access to Catholic schools that serve as potential instruments for Catholic school attendance. Catholic secondary schools are geographically concentrated in urban areas, and Catholic schooling does increase educational attainment significantly among urban minorities. The gains from Catholic schooling are modest for urban whites and negligible for suburban students. Related analyses suggest that urban minorities benefit greatly from access to Catholic schooling primarily because the public schools available to them are quite poor. (Copyright 1997 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.)
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Effects of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Achievement." Journal of Labor Economics 15,1 (1997): 98-123.
8. Neal, Derek A.
The Link Between Ability and Specialization: An Explanation for Observed Correlations Between Wages and Mobility Rates
Journal of Human Resources 33,1 (Winter 1998): 173-200.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/146318
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Job Turnover; Mobility; Mobility, Job; Modeling; Skilled Workers; Training; Training, Occupational; Wage Differentials; Wage Levels; Wage Rates

Wage levels and turnover rates are negatively correlated across types of employment, and this fact is often interpreted as evidence that high-wage jobs are rationed. A simple training model illustrates, however, that this correlation may arise because able workers have an incentive to choose highly specialized jobs. In any job, the most able workers possess the most valuable stocks of specific skills and therefore face the highest mobility costs. Thus, able workers may have a comparative advantage in specialized employments. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth provide an opportunity to evaluate the merits of the training model developed here. Data on worker training and mobility provide support for several implications of the model. The model also provides new ways to interpret existing results in the literature on interindustry wage differentials.
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Link Between Ability and Specialization: An Explanation for Observed Correlations Between Wages and Mobility Rates." Journal of Human Resources 33,1 (Winter 1998): 173-200.
9. Neal, Derek A.
The Measured Black-White Wage Gap among Women Is Too Small
NBER Working Paper No. 9133, National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2002.
Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w9133.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Census of Population; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Income; Labor Supply; Racial Differences; Wage Gap; Wages; Wages, Women; Women

Taken as a whole, the literature on black-white wage inequality suggests that racial gaps in potential wages are much larger among men than women, and further that one can accurately assess black-white gaps in potential wages among women without accounting for black-white differences in patterns of female labor supply. This paper challenges both pieces of this conventional wisdom. I provide several estimates of the black-white gap in potential wages for the year 1990 using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), a panel data set that includes persons born between 1957 and 1964. I exploit data on wages and income sources for years before and after 1990 to develop imputation methods that allow me to adjust measures of the black-white wage gap among women for racial differences in selection patterns. Among young adult employed women in 1990, the Census, Current Population Surveys, and NLSY data yield median log wage gaps of -.11, -.16, and -.18 respectively. Based on several different imputation procedures, I estimate that the median black-white gap in log potential wages among women in the NLSY is apporoximately -.25.
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Measured Black-White Wage Gap among Women Is Too Small." NBER Working Paper No. 9133, National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2002.
10. Neal, Derek A.
The Measured Black-White Wage Gap Among Women Is Too Small
Journal of Political Economy 112,S1 (February 2004): S1-S28.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/379940
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Black Studies; Minorities; Minority Groups; Racial Differences; Wage Gap; Wages; Wages, Women; Women; Women's Studies

Existing work suggests that black-white gaps in potential wages are much larger among men than women and further that black-white differences in patterns of female labor supply are unimportant. However, panel data on wages and income sources demonstrate that the modal young black woman who does not engage in market work is a single mother receiving government aid whereas her white couterpart is a married mother receiving support from a working spouse. The median black-white gap in log potential wages among young adult women in 1990 was likely at least 60 percent larger than the gap implied by reported earnings and hours worked in the Current Population Surveys.
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. "The Measured Black-White Wage Gap Among Women Is Too Small." Journal of Political Economy 112,S1 (February 2004): S1-S28.
11. Neal, Derek A.
Johnson, William R.
The Role of Pre-Market Factors in Black-White Wage Differences
Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, March 23, 1994
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, University of Chicago
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Discrimination, Job; Family Background and Culture; Minorities; Racial Differences; School Progress; Wage Differentials; Wage Effects; Wage Equations

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

Many attempts to measure the wage effects of current labor market discrimination against minorities include controls for worker productivity that (1) could themselves be affected by discrimination and (2) are very imprecise measures of worker skill. The resulting estimates of residual wage gaps may be biased. Our approach is a parsimoniously specified wage equation which controls for skill with the score of a test administered as teenagers prepared to leave high school and embark on work careers or postsecondary education. This test score is a racially unbiased measure of the skills and abilities these teenagers were about to bring to the labor market. This research finds that this one test score explains all of the black-white gap for young women and much of the gap for young men, a bigger share than has been found by many other studies. For today's young adults, the black-white wage gap is primarily due to a skill gap, which in turn can be traced, at least in part, to observable differences in children's family backgrounds and local environments. We have suggestive evidence that school quality contributes to the skill gap for males. While the results do not deny the existence of labor market discrimination, skill gaps play such a large role that we believe future research should focus on the obstacles black children face in acquiring productive skill.
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. and William R. Johnson. "The Role of Pre-Market Factors in Black-White Wage Differences." Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, March 23, 1994.
12. Neal, Derek A.
Johnson, William R.
The Role of Pre-Market Factors in Black-White Wage Differences
NBER Working Paper No. 5124, National Bureau of Economic Research, May 1995.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5124
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Family Background and Culture; Labor Market Segmentation; Racial Differences; Schooling, Post-secondary; Skills; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap

Many attempts to measure the wage effects of current labor market discrimination against minorities include controls for worker productivity that (1) could themselves be affected by market discrimination and (2) are very imprecise measures of worker skill. The resulting estimates of residual wage gaps may be biased. Our approach is a parsimoniously specified wage equation which controls for skill with the score of a test administered as teenagers prepared to leave high school and embark on work careers or post-secondary education. Independent evidence shows that this test score is a racially unbiased measure of the skills and abilities these teenagers were about to bring to the labor market. We find that this one test score explains all of the black-white wage gap for young women and much of the gap for young men. For today's young adults, the black-white wage gap primarily reflects a skill gap, which in turn can be traced. at least in part, to observable differences in the family backgrounds and school environments of black and white children. While our results do provide some evidence of current labor market discrimination, skill gaps play such a large role that we believe future research should focus on the obstacles black children face in acquiring productive skills. Full-text available on-line: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5124
Bibliography Citation
Neal, Derek A. and William R. Johnson. "The Role of Pre-Market Factors in Black-White Wage Differences." NBER Working Paper No. 5124, National Bureau of Economic Research, May 1995.