Intermetropolitan variation in the labour force participation rates of white and black men in the United States

Citation
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
Citations number
38
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
EnvirnmentalStudies Geografy & Development
Journal title
URBAN STUDIES
ISSN journal
0042-0980 → ACNP
Volume
38
Issue
13
Year of publication
2001
Pages
2327 - 2348
Database
ISI
SICI code
0042-0980(200112)38:13<2327:IVITLF>2.0.ZU;2-A
Abstract
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.