This paper examines the participation of Chinese men in four California industries in the late 1800s to determine the relationship between product market structure and racist hiring practices. Because white women, a traditional source of cheap labor, were scarce in post-Gold Rush California,...

This paper presents a historical explanation of the evolution of labor market structure and wage differentials in the California canning industry. Beginning in the late 1800s, the power of craft labor within the canneries combined with the growth of a canned goods market to stimulate...