Racial Inequality and White Employment: An Interpretation and Test of the Bargaining Power Hypothesis

This article disputes the argument and the evidence used to conclude that white workers are hurt by discrimination against blacks. Racism may increase the bargaining power of white workers if it unifies white ethnics, and may benefit them if it reduces job competition. The distributional consequences of discrimination will vary with the intensity of aggregate unemployment and the degree of racial segmentation in the labor market. The impact of racial inequality on the probability of employment is evaluated with a cross-sectional model using census summary data on SMSAs. Results show that racial inequality improves white male and female employment prospects in 1980, and suggest the same for 1970.