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Author: Anderson, George Edward
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Anderson, George Edward
The Effect of Affirmative Action Programs on Female Employment and Earnings
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California - Los Angeles, 1988
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Affirmative Action; Earnings; Employment; Income Distribution; Simultaneity

Affirmative action programs, as promoted by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), have aroused much controversy since their inception in the mid-1960s. The programs sought wide-ranging changes in the occupational representation of women and an elevated income distribution relative to white males. Using data from 1966-1982, I test whether affirmative action programs (AAPs) have realized these goals for white and black female workers. An efficient, general equilibrium model showed that the programs give rise to simultaneous wage and employment effects by sex, while generating an inefficient level of output. The model assumes AAPs are directed only toward a subset of firms (consistent with current laws affecting only firms of more than 50 employees) and that male and females workers are mobile between 'covered' and 'non-covered' employment. Because public datasets do not identify 'covered' employees, for hypothesis testing industry-specific coverage probabilities were generated, and these were appended to an individual's records. March Current Population Surveys (CPS), spanning 1968-82, and data from the EEOC, showed that the programs have led to very significant movements by the early 1980s of black females, and a more modest movement of white females, toward covered employment. However, Mann-Whitney tests on within-race/sex occupational movements, and a modified Theil Entropy measure failed to detect significant covered-employment occupational shifts. Among black female workers, a decomposition of CPS average weekly wages showed that approximately 11% of the 1970-80 increase could be attributed to AAPs. Among white females, the effects were negligible. Using National Longitudinal Survey (NLS) data, no significant covered-employment differentials were isolated over the period 1967-1982 for either race of women. Thus, while AAPs have induced a female shift from non-covered to covered employment since the mid-1960s, significant occupational and relative wage gains have not been realized.
Bibliography Citation
Anderson, George Edward. The Effect of Affirmative Action Programs on Female Employment and Earnings. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California - Los Angeles, 1988.