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Racial Differences in National Basketball Association Players' Salaries: A New Look

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  • Matthew S. Dey

Abstract

This article empirically examines racial salary differences in the National Basketball Association from 1987 to 1993. The results of our analysis depict the NBA as a racially equal labor market which experienced tremendous growth over this period. In contrast to studies using mid-1980's data which estimated a white advantage between twelve and twenty-five percent, we find that no significant racial wage differential exists. The convergence of the salary differential between 1984 and 1993 can be fully explained by a narrowing in the relative prices paid for additional production and an increase in the relative production of black players. Furthermore, a regression capturing customer preferences yields the result that customers, who during the mid-1980's preferred white players, no longer differentiate between white and black players.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew S. Dey, 1997. "Racial Differences in National Basketball Association Players' Salaries: A New Look," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 41(2), pages 84-90, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:41:y:1997:i:2:p:84-90
    DOI: 10.1177/056943459704100211
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kahn, Lawrence M & Sherer, Peter D, 1988. "Racial Differences in Professional Basketball Players' Compensation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(1), pages 40-61, January.
    2. Eleanor Brown & Richard Spiro & Diane Keenan, 1991. "Wage and Nonwage Discrimination in Professional Basketball: Do Fans Affect It?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 333-345, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter A. Groothuis & James Richard Hill, 2013. "Pay Discrimination, Exit Discrimination or Both? Another Look at an Old Issue Using NBA Data," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 14(2), pages 171-185, April.
    2. David J. Berri & Rob Simmons, 2009. "Race and the Evaluation of Signal Callers in the National Football League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(1), pages 23-43, February.
    3. Quinn Andrew Wesley Keefer, 2013. "Compensation Discrimination for Defensive Players," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 14(1), pages 23-44, February.
    4. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2009. "The Economics of Discrimination: Evidence from Basketball," NCER Working Paper Series 40, National Centre for Econometric Research.
    5. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2006. "Race, Performance, Pay, and Retention Among National Basketball Association Head Coaches," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 7(2), pages 119-149, May.
    6. Hisahiro Naito & Yu Takagi, 2017. "Is racial salary discrimination disappearing in the NBA? evidence from data during 1985–2015," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 651-669, September.
    7. Jesse L. Schroffel & Christopher S. P. Magee, 2012. "Own-Race Bias Among NBA Coaches," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(2), pages 130-151, April.
    8. John Robst & Jennifer VanGilder & Corinne E. Coates & David J. Berri, 2011. "Skin Tone and Wages: Evidence From NBA Free Agents," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(2), pages 143-156, April.
    9. Scott Tainsky & Brian M. Mills & Jason A. Winfree, 2015. "Further Examination of Potential Discrimination Among MLB Umpires," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(4), pages 353-374, May.
    10. John Goddard & John O. S. Wilson, 2009. "Racial discrimination in English professional football: evidence from an empirical analysis of players' career progression," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(2), pages 295-316, March.
    11. McCormick, Robert E. & Tollison, Robert D., 2001. "Why do black basketball players work more for less money?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 201-219, February.
    12. James R. Hill & Nicholas A. Jolly, 2012. "Salary Distribution and Collective Bargaining Agreements: A Case Study of the NBA," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 342-363, April.
    13. Marios Michaelides, 2010. "A New Test of Compensating Differences: Evidence on the Importance of Unobserved Heterogeneity," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(5), pages 475-495, October.
    14. Chih-Hai Yang & Hsuan-Yu Lin, 2012. "Is There Salary Discrimination by Nationality in the NBA?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(1), pages 53-75, February.
    15. Jeffrey Chu & Saralees Nadarajah & Emmanuel Afuecheta & Stephen Chan & Ying Xu, 2014. "A statistical study of racism in English football," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2915-2937, September.
    16. Hisahiro Naito & Yu Takagi, 2017. "Is there A Positive Association between Increasing Salary Discrimination in the NBA and Unshrinking Racial Income Gap of White and Black Citizens ?," Tsukuba Economics Working Papers 2017-001, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
    17. Christian Deutscher & Oliver Gürtler & Joachim Prinz & Daniel Weimar, 2017. "The Payoff To Consistency In Performance," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(2), pages 1091-1103, April.
    18. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "The Sports Business as a Labor Market Laboratory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 75-94, Summer.

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