Abstract

The earnings difference between white and black workers fell dramatically in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This article shows that the expansion of the minimum wage played a critical role in this decline. The 1966 Fair Labor Standards Act extended federal minimum wage coverage to agriculture, restaurants, nursing homes, and other services that were previously uncovered and where nearly a third of black workers were employed. We digitize over 1,000 hourly wage distributions from Bureau of Labor Statistics industry wage reports and use CPS microdata to investigate the effects of this reform on wages, employment, and racial inequality. Using a cross-industry difference-in-differences design, we show that earnings rose sharply for workers in the newly covered industries. The impact was nearly twice as large for black workers as for white workers. Within treated industries, the racial gap adjusted for observables fell from 25 log points prereform to 0 afterward. We can rule out significant disemployment effects for black workers. Using a bunching design, we find no aggregate effect of the reform on employment. The 1967 extension of the minimum wage can explain more than 20% of the reduction in the racial earnings and income gap during the civil rights era. Our findings shed new light on the dynamics of labor market inequality in the United States and suggest that minimum wage policy can play a critical role in reducing racial economic disparities.

中文翻译：

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最低工资和种族不平等*

摘要

在1960年代末和1970年代初，美国白人和黑人工人之间的收入差异急剧下降。本文表明，最低工资的提高在这种下降中起着关键作用。1966年的《公平劳工标准法》将联邦最低工资的适用范围扩大到了以前未发现过的农业，饭店，疗养院和其他服务部门，雇用了近三分之一的黑人工人。我们将来自劳工统计局行业工资报告的1,000多个小时工资分配数字化，并使用CPS微观数据调查这项改革对工资，就业和种族不平等的影响。使用跨行业的差异设计，我们发现，新覆盖行业的工人的收入急剧上升。对黑人工人的影响几乎是白人工人的两倍。在经过处理的行业中，针对可观察到的因素调整的种族差距从改革前的25个对数点下降到改革后的0个对数点。我们可以排除对黑人工人的重大失业影响。使用集聚设计，我们发现改革对就业没有总体影响。1967年最低工资的延长可以解释在民权时代种族收入和收入差距减少的20％以上。我们的发现为美国劳动力市场不平等的动态提供了新的线索，并表明最低工资政策可以在减少种族经济差异方面发挥关键作用。我们可以排除对黑人工人的重大失业影响。使用集聚设计，我们发现改革对就业没有总体影响。1967年最低工资的延长可以解释在民权时代种族收入和收入差距减少的20％以上。我们的发现为美国劳动力市场不平等的动态提供了新的线索，并表明最低工资政策可以在减少种族经济差异方面发挥关键作用。我们可以排除对黑人工人的重大失业影响。使用集聚设计，我们发现改革对就业没有总体影响。1967年最低工资的延长可以解释在民权时代种族收入和收入差距减少的20％以上。我们的发现为美国劳动力市场不平等的动态提供了新的线索，并表明最低工资政策可以在减少种族经济差异方面发挥关键作用。