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New evidence of salary discrimination in major league baseball

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  • Holmes, Paul

Abstract

Salary discrimination in MLB has largely been discarded as a research topic. However traditional quantitative methods (particularly least squares regression) have concentrated on the effect of race for the average player. If only a particular salary class of players are subject to discrimination, or if the size of the discrimination is small at the average, then least-squares techniques will struggle to identify discrimination. I use quantile regression to uncover salary discrimination against black players in the lower half of the salary distribution. Not only are the premia for white and Hispanic players statistically significant, but they are large: up to 25% of salary for the bottom quintile of players.

Suggested Citation

  • Holmes, Paul, 2011. "New evidence of salary discrimination in major league baseball," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 320-331, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:18:y:2011:i:3:p:320-331
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    Cited by:

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    2. Candon Johnson & Eduardo Minuci, 2020. "Wage discrimination in the NBA: Evidence using free agent signings," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(2), pages 517-539, October.
    3. Berlinschi, Ruxanda & Schokkaert, Jeroen & Swinnen, Johan, 2013. "When drains and gains coincide: Migration and international football performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Brunello, Giorgio & Yamamura, Eiji, 2023. "Desperately Seeking a Japanese Yokozuna," IZA Discussion Papers 16536, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Nicholas Hill & Marc Remer, 2020. "Race And Employment Outcomes: Evidence From Nba Coaches," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(3), pages 1469-1486, July.
    6. Aju J. Fenn & Lucas Gerdes & Samuel Rothstein, 2019. "Country of Origin Effects on the Average Annual Values of NHL Player Contracts," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-11, May.
    7. Johnny Ducking & Peter A. Groothuis, 2023. "Positional Segregation and Career Length in Major League Baseball in the 1990s," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 149-159, September.
    8. Forth, John & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2022. "Earnings Discrimination in the Workplace," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1110, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. David J. Berri & Brad R. Humphreys & Robert Simmons, 2013. "Valuing the blind side: pay and performance of offensive linemen in the National Football League," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Jaume García (ed.), The Econometrics of Sport, chapter 6, pages 99-114, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Koning Ruud H. & Maennig Wolfgang, 2012. "Guest Editorial," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(3), pages 204-209, June.
    11. Joshua Pitts & Daniel Yost, 2013. "Racial Position Segregation in Intercollegiate Football: Do Players become more Racially Segregated as they Transition from High School to College?," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 207-230, June.
    12. Johnny Ducking & Peter Groothuis & James Hill, 2015. "Exit Discrimination in the NFL: A Duration Analysis of Career Length," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 285-299, September.
    13. Reio Tanji, 2022. "Pitch Call Discrimination in Major League Baseball: The Effect on the Observed Performance and the Salaries," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 22-02, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    14. Bryce Kanago & David George Surdam, 2020. "Intimidation, Discrimination, and Retaliation: Hit-by-Pitches during the Integration of Major League Baseball," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 48(1), pages 67-85, March.
    15. Craig A. Depken II & Johnny Ducking & Peter A. Groothuis, 2015. "Career Duration in the NHL: Bias against Europeans?," Working Papers 15-09, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.

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