This study estimates earnings function parameters across alternative occupational paths, with an emphasis on identifying rates of return to post-school human capital investment. Based on cross-sectional and synthetic cohort analysis using the 1973–2000 Current Population Surveys, estimates are...

Economists and sociologists have proposed arguments for why there can exist wage penalties for work involving helping and caring for others, penalties borne disproportionately by women. Evidence on wage penalties is neither abundant nor compelling. We examine wage differentials associated with...

type="main" <p>Progress in narrowing black–white earnings differences has been far from continuous, with some of the apparent progress resulting from labor force withdrawal among lower-skilled African Americans. This paper documents racial and ethnic differences in male earnings from 1950 through...</p>

New college graduates must choose whether to stay in the geographic area where they completed their degree or move to a new location to begin their careers. This paper classifies 41 U.S. metropolitan areas as “college towns” and investigates differences in employment outcomes between college...