Many of the positive economic trends coming out of the Civil Rights Era for black men stagnated or reversed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. These changes were concurrent with a rapid rise in import competition from Japan. We assess the impact of this trade shock on racial disparities...

The most commonly used model of labor market incorporation among immigrants in the United States analyzes their earnings largely as a function of human capital variables such as education, language competence, age, length of residence and employment experience in the receiving country. However,...

This paper discusses three issues in estimating wage regressions by using the aggregated data from the Japanese Basic Survey of Wage Structure (BSWS). The issues include: (1) the order of taking averages and logs, (2) the usage of differently aggregated tables in the BSWS, (3) the treatment of...

The statutory minimum wage has steadily increased for decades in Japan, while the median wage has fallen nominally since 1999 because of a severe recession. We use large micro-data sets from two government surveys to investigate how the minimum wage has affected the wage distribution under...

Using data for the 1990's, this paper examines the role of sheepskin effects in the returns to education for Japan. Our estimations indicate that sheepskin effects explain about 50% of the total returns to schooling. We further find that sheepskin effects are only important for workers in small...

Wage inequality between individuals has changed little in Japan in recent times unlike in other developed countries. We examine changes in wage inequality within and between establishments during the prolonged stagnation period in Japan. Using a micro-level worker–establishment dataset from...

This paper compares the wage structure between the public and private sectors in Japan by using a large microdata set covering public and private sector employees. Rather than comparing overall wage levels, we examine the differences in relative wages by gender, age, education, and region....

Using data for the 1990's, this paper examines the role of sheepskin effects in the returns to education for Japan. Our estimation results indicate that sheepskin effects explain about 50% of the total returns to schooling. We further find that sheepskin effect are only important for workers in...

Wage inequality between individuals has changed little in Japan in recent times unlike in other developed countries. We examine changes in wage inequality within and between establishments during the prolonged stagnation period in Japan. Using a micro-level worker-establishment dataset from 1991...

This paper compares the wage structure between the public and private sectors in Japan by using a large microdata set covering public and private sector employees. Rather than comparing overall wage levels, we examine the differences in relative wages by gender, age, education, and region....