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From Dark to Light. Skin Color and Wages Among African-Americans Goldsmith, Arthur H., Darrick Hamilton, and William Darity, Jr., Journal of Human Resources , 42(4), pp. 701-738. The Preference for Whiteness Hypothesis.
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From Dark to Light Skin Color and Wages Among African-Americans Goldsmith, Arthur H., Darrick Hamilton, and William Darity, Jr., Journal of Human Resources, 42(4), pp. 701-738.
The Preference for WhitenessHypothesis • Social categorization is a fundamental cognitive process leading to in-groups and out-groups. • Out-groups are exposed to prejudice and in-group members receive preferential treatment.
In the U.S., whiteness is a defining attribute of the in-group. • Possessing characteristics of the white in-group in the form of skin shade may lead to preferential treatment of light-skinned relative to darker-skinned African-Americans. >>>Earnings will be related to the lightness of skin color, not just race.
Primary Questions Do light-skinned African-Americans earn more relative to whites than dark-skinned African-Americans? Among African-Americans, are there wage differences by skin shade?
Data • Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality (MCSUI) • Authors’ sample: 948 Black and White Working Men Aged 19-65, 1992-1994 • Interviewer/individual race match. • Interviewers trained to establish consistency in identifying skin shade. • National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) • 331 Black Working Men Aged 19-65, 1978-1979
Mean of the Hourly Wage (MCSU) • White $15.94 • Light Black 14.42 • Medium Black 13.23 • Dark Black 11.72
Dummy Variable MethodTraditional ModelW = b1 + b2 RACE + …RACE = 1 if individual is African-American = 0 if white. b2 < 0 is evidence of discrimination vs. blacks. b2 > 0 is evidence of discrimination vs. whites. b2 = 0 is evidence of no discrimination.
“Rainbow” ModelW = b1 + b2 Light Black + b3 Medium Black + b4 Dark Black + …where skin shade variables are dummy variables. • b2 < 0, b3 < 0, and b4 < 0 is evidence of discrimination vs. light-skinned, medium dark-skinned, or dark-skinned blacks, respectively. • |b2| < |b3| and |b2| < |b4| is evidence that light-skinned blacks face less discrimination than medium dark and dark skinned blacks.
Control Variables • Human Capital: education, job tenure, disability • Workplace Characteristics: union status, firm size, supervise others, work part-time • Demographic Characteristics: age, married, number of dependents, foreign resident at 16 years of age • Family Characteristics when Young: raised by both parents, mother high school grad, father high school grad
Results Dummy Variable Method • Percent of Earnings Less than Whites by Skin Shade1 • All Blacks 15.5 % • Light Black 7.6 • Medium Black 16.6 • Dark Black 16.8 • 1Controlling for human capital, workplace, and demographic variables.
Results Oaxaca Wage Decomposition Technique 1 • Component due to Component • Group Productivity Unexplained • All Blacks 10.38 11.98 • Light Black -2.52 4.59 • Medium Black 10.85 13.15 • Dark Black 12.1413.73 • 1Controlling for human capital, workplace, and demographic variables.
Skin shade matters. Estimates indicate that light-skinned African-Americans earn more relative to whites than dark-skinned African-Americans. Conclusion • The black-white dichotomy used in labor economics yields misleading results. • The theory of the preference for whiteness is consistent with the results.
