Working Paper: NBER ID: w23096
Authors: Daniel S. Hamermesh; Katie R. Genadek; Michael Burda
Abstract: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey 2003-12 suggests the existence of small but statistically significant racial/ethnic differences in time spent not working at the workplace. Minorities, especially men, spend a greater fraction of their workdays not working than do white non-Hispanics. These differences are robust to the inclusion of large numbers of demographic, industry, occupation, time and geographic controls. They do not vary by union status, public-private sector attachment, pay method or age; nor do they arise from the effects of equal-employment enforcement or geographic differences in racial/ethnic representation. The findings imply that measures of the adjusted wage disadvantages of minority employees are overstated by about 10 percent.
Keywords: racial differences; ethnic differences; nonwork time; labor economics; wage disparities
JEL Codes: J15; J22; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| racial/ethnic group membership (J15) | fraction of time spent not working (J22) |
| minority male workers (J82) | fraction of time spent not working (J22) |
| minority female workers (J82) | fraction of time spent not working (J22) |
| racial/ethnic group membership (J15) | wage disadvantages for minority employees (J79) |