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Accounting for Firms in Ethnic Wage Gaps Across the Earnings Distribution

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Bryson
  • John Forth
  • Lucy Stokes
  • Van Phan
  • Carl Singleton
  • Felix Ritchie
  • Damian Whittard

Abstract

Most studies of ethnic wage gaps rely on household survey data. As such, they are unable to examine the degree to which wage gaps arise within or between firms. We contribute to the literature using high quality employer-employee payroll data on jobs, hours, and earnings, linked with the personal and family characteristics of workers from the population census for England and Wales. We reveal substantial unexplained wage gaps disadvantaging ethnic minority groups among both women and men. These disparities occur predominantly within firms rather than between them and are especially pronounced among higher earners. The patterns vary significantly by gender and by ethnic minority group compared to white workers. Since most of the wage disadvantage for ethnic minorities is within-firm, our results suggest that the UK's recent legislative reforms on firm-level gender pay gap reporting should be expanded to encompass ethnicity pay gaps.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Bryson & John Forth & Lucy Stokes & Van Phan & Carl Singleton & Felix Ritchie & Damian Whittard, "undated". "Accounting for Firms in Ethnic Wage Gaps Across the Earnings Distribution," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 570, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:nsr:niesrd:570
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employer-Employee Data; Unconditional Quantile Regression; Decomposition Methods; UK Labour Market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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