M. Ellis et J. Odland, Intermetropolitan variation in the labour force participation rates of white and black men in the United States, URBAN STUD, 38(13), 2001, pp. 2327-2348
We decompose the variance in black and white male labour force participatio
n rates across US metropolitan areas in 1990 into three effects: that due t
o variation in labour force participation within labour force categories ac
ross metropolitan areas (local labour market effects); that due to variatio
n in the distribution of those categories across metropolitan areas (labour
force structure effects); and that due to the covariation between these tw
o effects. Variation in labour force participation rates within labour forc
e categories (local labour market effects) accounts for 56 per cent of the
variance in labour force participation rates across metropolitan areas for
white men but over 75 per cent for black men. Variation in the frequency of
membership in each labour force category is a relatively unimportant facto
r for both groups. The covariance between labour force effects and local ef
fects is negligible for black men but accounts for 25 per cent of the inter
metropolitan variance in white male participation rates. This covariance is
a measure of how well adjusted the labour force characteristics of metropo
litan areas are to local economic conditions; our results indicate that thi
s adjustment is greater for white men than black men. We also use this deco
mposition to identify the causes of variation in the difference between bla
ck and white labour force participation rates. Black-white differences in r
esponse to local labour market effects conditions generate most of this var
iance. These different local labour market effects are greatest among young
single men with less than a high school education.