IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-25-00230.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wage inequality: The role of education

Author

Listed:
  • Edmond Berisha

    (Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University)

  • Ram Dubey

    (Montclair State University)

  • Orkideh Gharehgozli

    (Montclair State University)

  • Zaman Zamanian

    (Montclair State University)

Abstract

We hypothesize that the role of education in driving wage inequality is not the same across three racial groups in the United States. Using the Current Population Survey (CPS) data for the period 2000-2021, we show that education weighs at most $32\%$ in explaining wage inequality. Further, we observe a decrease in the role of education in explaining wage inequality among Black and White Americans.

Suggested Citation

  • Edmond Berisha & Ram Dubey & Orkideh Gharehgozli & Zaman Zamanian, 2025. "Wage inequality: The role of education," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 45(1), pages 606-616.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-25-00230
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2025/Volume45/EB-25-V45-I1-P54.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Introduction to the First Edition of Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 11-14, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hatton, Timothy J. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2008. "The Impact of Immigration: Comparing Two Global Eras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 345-361, March.
    3. Robert J. Gordon & Ian Dew-Becker, 2008. "Controversies about the Rise of American Inequality: A Survey," NBER Working Papers 13982, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Gary S. Becker, 1975. "Summary and Conclusions, Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition, pages 231-237, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Barry R. Chiswick, 1971. "Earnings Inequality and Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 85(1), pages 21-39.
    6. Gary S. Becker, 1975. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck75-1, March.
    7. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Introduction to the Second Edition of Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 3-10, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Gary S. Becker, 1975. "Appendix A: Sources and Methods, Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition, pages 238-256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Griffin, Míde & Lyons, Sean & Nolan, Anne, 2025. "Rural electrification and secondary school enrolments in Ireland," MPRA Paper 124216, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Musayir, Arlan & Arabsheibani, Reza, 2025. "Motherhood and Informality: Empirical Evidence from Russia," IZA Discussion Papers 17916, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mattia Filomena, 2024. "Unemployment Scarring Effects: An Overview and Meta-analysis of Empirical Studies," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 10(2), pages 459-518, July.
    4. Joana Silva & Gabriela Sousa & Luís Costa & Margarida Brito & Sónia Oliveira & Bernardo Rodrigues & João Ferreira & Margarida Borges & Luís Miguel, 2025. "Burden of Disease and Cost of Illness of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer in Portugal," PharmacoEconomics - Open, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 423-431, May.
    5. repec:osf:osfxxx:h9b7c_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Beata Bieszk-Stolorz & Krzysztof Dmytrow, 2021. "Clustering of Voivodships in Poland According to the Effectiveness of Professional Activisation in the Aspect of Changes in Procedures," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2 - Part ), pages 108-121.
    7. Kathleen J. Brown & Roos Haer & Gudrun Østby, 2023. "Local Food Price Volatility and School Dropout in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 49(3), pages 443-468, September.
    8. Md. Saiful Islam & Fakhre Alam, 2023. "Influence of Human Capital Formation on the Economic Growth in Bangladesh During 1990–2019: an ARDL Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(3), pages 3010-3027, September.
    9. Aristei, David & Gallo, Manuela & Vannoni, Valeria, 2024. "Preferences for ethical intermediaries and sustainable investment decisions in micro-firms: The role of financial literacy and digital financial capability," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Miriam Hänni & Irene Kriesi, 2025. "Unemployment Scarring in the Early Career: Do Skills and Labour Demand Matter?," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    11. Chen, Wei, 2024. "The extended Grossman human capital model with endogenous demand for knowledge," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    12. Jonna M. Blanck & Christian Brzinsky-Fay & Justin J. W. Powell, 2025. "Pathways to Inclusion? Labor Market Entry Trajectories of Persons With Disabilities in Europe," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    13. Danielle D. van Jaarsveld & Yoshio Yanadori, 2011. "Compensation Management in Outsourced Service Organizations and Its Implications for Quit Rates, Absenteeism and Workforce Performance: Evidence from Canadian Call Centres," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(Supplemen), pages 1-26, June.
    14. Erick Silesky-Gonzalez & Yendry Lezcano-Calderon & Alexandra Mora-Cruz, 2025. "Effects of education for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention in university students," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, December.
    15. Maria Liza G. Lee, Ph.D., 2024. "Readiness of Technical and Vocational Education Institutions and their Industry Partners for Fourth Industrial Revolution: Towards Theory Development," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(3s), pages 5701-5723, November.
    16. Faith Kadoon Ayatse, 2024. "Entrepreneurship Education and Performance of SMEs in the Manufacturing Sector of North Central Nigeria: Evidence from Primary Data Analysis," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(11), pages 2620-2642, November.
    17. Rachel Uchenna Onwadi, 2024. "Instructional Delivery Process Of Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum In Senior Secondary Schools In Abuja, Nigeria," Education, Sustainability & Society (ESS), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 7(1), pages 31-37, December.
    18. Juan Ignacio Palacio-Morena & Alejandro Mungaray-Lagarda & Lizbeth Salgado-Beltrán & Jaciel Ramsés Méndez-León, 2025. "Full Competition and Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-22, January.
    19. Ma, Xiaofang & Chen, Jun & Dong, Wang & Su, Qiaoling, 2024. "Chief accountants weigh in: How professional leadership of SOEs influence investment efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    20. Zhi Zheng Chong & Siew Yee Lau, 2025. "Unconditional cash transfers and child schooling: a meta-analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 639-666, February.
    21. Makate, Marshall, 2024. "Turning the page on energy poverty? Quasi-experimental evidence on education and energy poverty in Zimbabwe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Decomposition; Education; Theil Index; Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-25-00230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.