Transcript Document 7235559

Labor Markets and/or
Ascriptive Distinctions
Eve Veliz
Kyle Longest
04.05.04
Structuring Structures-The Labor
Market
Fiore uses Dual Labor Market theory to explain relationship
between employment and poverty
Sorenson and Kalleberg use job matching theory to explain
earnings differences
Both authors describe job differentiation as a cause for the
perpetuation of poverty
FiorePrimary labor market: high wages, good working
conditions, employment stability, job security, equity and
due process, opportunity for advancement
Secondary labor market: less attractive, low wages, poor
working conditions, harsh/arbitrary discipline, little
advancement
It’s all about access
Sorenson/Kalleberg- Wage competition (productivity) vs.
Vacancy competition (access)
Both demonstrate that statistical discrimination keeps
certain populations out of the more desirable jobs.
Both papers state that alleviating market pressure is a more
viable solution that individual-level tactics (job training
pgms), however primary employees and secondary
employers have incentive to make sure this doesn’t happen
Questions
What incentives would drive employers to
change the structure of the market?
Is affirmative action addressing structural
issues or individual?
Immigrant Enclave - Portes
Time frame: Latter half of 19th Century
Two main groups not following normal
pattern of immigrant impoverishment.
German-Jews in New York & Japanese in
California share 3 major characteristics
1. Economic success of first generation
2. Fierce struggle to maintain cultural roots and
group solidarity
3. No major acculturation into mainstream society
Typology of Process of
Incorporation
Prerequisites for development of Ethnic Enclaves (2 easy, 1 not so much)
1. Available labor
• Normally comes from family members or from more recent immigrants
2. Financial resources
• Usually not as big of a problem because the amount required at startup is
relatively small and can come from personal savings or pooled accounts.
3. Entrepreneurial Class
• This is a group of business knowledgeable people who are capable of utilizing
available resources to overcome structural barriers
Is there anything that could be structurally altered to improve its
chances of happening? Would this situation even be desirable?
Why or Why not?
Other Characteristics of Ethnic
Enclaves Success
Businesses begin small and focus on providing for its own ethnic
community
Also results in heavy obligation of reciprocity in order to help future
ventures
Paternal-like relations of employers to employees
Wages are set below what is normally paid
• Lack of money is compensated by increased support in
helping workers improve their own position in the labor
market, which helps future employment. (Key factor not
present in secondary markets.)
Distinct and concentrated space
Leads to the ability of new member’s ability to live their entire lives
within the confines of the enclave
What implications does this final characteristic have for an overall theory
of stratification? (Meaning if these enclaves can be/are self-inclusive, how
do they fit into the broader society, particularly in relation to other
minorities?
Questions
To what extent and how does the
success of these enclaves directly and
through mainstream white culture affect
other minorities?
How would this theory account for
unsuccessful groups that seemed to
follow a similar pattern, such as Italians,
Poles, and Irish?
European vs. Black Migration Lieberson
Time Frame: 1880 on
Voluntary Migration – results in interethnic contact
• Usually motivated by the economic appeals of destination (i.e
moving from worse to better)
• Initial contact is therefore conditioned by original living
situation, meaning someone coming from an extremely
impoverished area will require much less to deem the new area
a significant improvement
 Since Blacks living conditions in the South were worse than SCE
Europeans, they were more likely to accept lower paying jobs
when they migrated to the North
 This might explain initial discrimination cannot account for
continued disparities.
Latent Structure of Race Relations*
The increasing numbers of black in areas of the
North did not result in a radical change in racial
attitudes of whites
Rather the changes in “compositions affect the
dispositions that existed all along.” (584)
While it is generally held that the North was far more
empathetic, there are signs that whites were equally
prejudiced.
• The increasing numbers of blacks brought these feelings to the
fore, and, more importantly, gave whites more impetus to act
on them.
*Alternative Definition “White people are racist”
It’s a Matter of Numbers
Black migrants experiences have been different than SCE Europeans
because of the continued migration of blacks
SCE Europeans hold a higher position in the job queue than blacks. Even
if blacks increase their median percentile of jobs held, the proportionate
gap with SCE Europeans will remain. (Table 2, 587)
The increased migration of blacks made it more difficult to develop a
unique market niche.
• The niches that do develop cannot support the same proportion of the migrant
population.
Less qualified new migrants undercut the strides made by older members,
including the deterioration of schools and residential areas, which in turn
reinforced negative stereotypes
• SCE European were then seen as the lesser of two evils
Structure vs. Assimilation
How well does Lieberson disentangle pure racial discrimination from more
structural causes? What are his shortcomings in this area?
How is it possible to get out of the chicken or the egg syndrome in the sense
that much of his argument rests on the idea that SCE Europeans were above
black in the job queue, but he does little to explain how this came to be?
(599) “The presence of blacks made it harder to discriminate against the new
Europeans because the alternative was viewed even less favorably.” If the
success of Europeans, and failure of blacks, is purely due to demographic
changes, then why is it inevitable that blacks would be viewed less favorably?
Asian immigration has not stopped to the degree that European immigration
has. Have these ethnic groups suffered the same fate Lieberson would predict,
as he did for blacks?
Bonacich-Discord at the Bottom
Two forms of “ethnic antagonism”
Exclusion movements (Australia).Prevent ethnic
group from being part of society
Caste system (S. Africa). Ethnics are essential to
economy (as is their oppression) so they are given
limited access
Both forms present in the US
Exclusion: Asian immigrants
Caste: blacks in the South
It’s Purely Economic
Economic competition main reason for ethnic antagonism.
Challenges the notion that white people are inherently
racist (opposed to Lieberson).
Steps towards ethnic antagonism
Labor market splits along ethnic lines. Two groups of workers who
command different prices for their labor
Factors that go into price of labor:
1) Resources: (what wage can they accept),
2) Information (immigrants sign contracts out of ignorance),
3) political resources (amount of resources inversely proportional
to price of that group’s labor)
Doesn’t Have to Be About Race
Ethnic differences do not always cause price
difference if they have the same goals
Split labor market doesn’t always come from
ethnic differences (prison labor, women)
Ethnic price differentials is a function of 2 things.
1) negotiations often take place in the home
country 2) people in same country (blacks) have
different resources
Motives: Many immigrants tolerate bad conditions
and avoid labor disputes. Have a fixed income
goal and some are sojourners. Accept bad
conditions to get a “foothold”
Perpetuated By Business
In split labor markets conflict develops between three classes: 1)
business 2) higher paid labor 3)cheaper labor
Business: Wants cheap, docile labor.
Higher Paid: threatened by cheap labor. If classes split
ethnically this class differential turns to ethnic antagonism (this
is where much of the conflict occurs) Tactics used include:
1) Exclusion (preferred) -try to prevent the presence
of cheap labor (lobbying against importing
immigrant labor)
2) Caste-Exclusiveness when can’t exclude them.
Monopolize acquisition of skills (SAT scores). Try
to weaken them politically
Cheaper labor: used by business to undermine higher paid
Are Economic Theories
Applicable Today?
Race relations is a function of economics
plus polity
Pre-industrial & Industrial stages- role of
government was to “legitimate, reinforce,
and regulate” patterns of racial stratification
Modern times- more class subordination for
lower class blacks. Racism not as overt
American Apartheid –
Massey and Denton
Time frame: 1900’s, (especially post WWII)
Main Argument: Higher rates of poverty in a segregated
group leads to a more intense concentration of poverty.
This concentration this intensifies the negative outcomes for the
segregated group, which then lead to maladaptive behaviors.
• This then creates a downward spiral of decline.
The segregation of blacks into inner city ghettos did not just happen, it
was constructed by whites through a series of intentional individual,
group, and legal decisions.
The theorem still rests on the postulate that the black rate of poverty is
higher than for whites. So how can we explain this initial phenomenon?
Does this weaken their overall argument?
Individual and Group Factors in
Creating Black Ghettos
1.
Personal Avoidance
•
2.
White avoidance of blacks (i.e. suburbanization) coupled with blacks
avoidance of whites
White violence against Blacks
Race riots and individual acts of violence (1900-1930)
3.
Neighborhood Associations
•
4.
Restrict Covenants on Deeds
•
5.
Resisted selling or renting homes to blacks
Contract between seller and buyer that must be enforced by courts
(outlawed in 1948)
Real Estate Agents Operate Dual Housing Markets
Show homes to blacks in black neighborhoods, whites in white
neighborhoods
M&D at times make a strong racial argument (meaning that whites
did this completely because they were racist). Is it empirically
correct to give this amount of agency and motives to whites?
State
and
Federal
Factors
Urban Renewal
1.
•
2.
3.
4.
5.
Destroys housing in black areas, convert to businesses and high
income housing
• Started in Chicago, became National policy
Low Income Housing
•
Build in areas inhabited by poor blacks
Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Loans
•
Instructed leading organizations to “maintain racial character of
neighborhoods.” (Policy now abandoned)
Veterans Programs after WWII (GI Bill, VA Loans)
•
More whites than blacks were eligible because military was
segregated and did enlist many blacks until 1950’s
Redlining by Banks and Insurance Companies
•
Refusing loans to those in specified areas of the city that are “high
risk loans.”
• Established as federal guideline in 1933 (Now illegal)
Deterioration of Black
Neighborhoods
Example: An increase in the poverty rate can start a
downward spiral of Disinvestment.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Lower incomes lead to need for Lower Rents
Lower rents reduce profits for Landlords
Lower profits persuades Landlords to spend less on maintenance
and upkeep of housing
Less spent on maintenance leads to property decay
Property decay leads to abandonment of buildings as Landlords
decide to invest in other neighborhoods
Once the tipping point is reached (3-4% of buildings abandoned)
the process accelerates and becomes cumulative
WJW 2 – Jobless Poverty
Time Frame: 1986-1993
While inner cities have always experienced
high rates of poverty, the increased rates of
joblessness is a new trend.
Joblessness is a more accurate measure because
it takes account of both those actively seeking
jobs and those who have completely dropped
out of the labor market.
Negative Effects of Joblessness
on a Community
Work organizes both the individuals life as well as
the communities.
Work gives people a set of expectations and goals
 This can include both on a larger scale as well as a very concrete
temporal, spatial sense.
 Therefore, work gives the structure for coherence.
Being in a family with a working adult and a
community of working adults give children the role
models for their future work.
• They learn the habits associated with steady work, which
are necessary for holding consistent employment.
How did we get here?
1.
Decreasing Demand for Low Skilled Labor
Resulted from changes in production, including the outsourcing of
many labor intensive industries to foreign markets.
2.
3.
Suburbanization of Jobs
Social Deterioration of Ghettos
Lack of high income families makes it impossible to support
neighborhood services, and results in lack of role models
4.
Negative Employer Attitudes
Totally discounting anyone from a particular neighborhood
Skills developed in order to survive in harsh environment become
negatives when trying to make it in mainstream role.
Some black residents of these neighborhoods lack both the “hard”
and “soft” skills required to compete in today’s job market, which
can the result in “statistical discrimination” of blacks in general.
Is the American Dream Obsolete?
The Assimilation Question- SES
assimilation seen as marker for structural
assimilation
Little change in ethnic earnings assimilation
from 1970-1990
Even with equal education Black, Native
American, and Latino men still experience
SEI disadvantage
Questions for Modern Split Market Theory
Is it still discrimination if black applicants are taken out of
the process because of lack of “hard” skills? “Soft” skills?
Why does this process systematically hinder inner city
black’s progress more than other inner city groups?
To what extent does this complicate the findings of the Bell
Curve, which even in taking account of SES did not/could
not control for some of these both macro and micro
processes?
How can we use the policy suggestions made by WJW in
connection with what we know from M&D to make more
effective public policy changes?
Issues of Gender
Competing Hypothesis
1.
2.
Devaluation – Female work is less important and
therefore culturally less valuable
Specialized Human Capital – Men work in jobs that
require more specialized skills, on average, than
women, making their wages higher
Kilbourne finds support for devaluation in that
occupations pay less the more females make up
that occupation, and when the occupations
require more “nurturing” skills
Tam’s Issues with Kilbourne
2 Main Problems with Devaluation
Theory
1. In measuring gender bias one must look at all
the left over effects. However, these numbers
will be overestimated because of the potential
of “omitted-variable bias.”
2. New evidence supporting specialized human
capital evidence
What Up with this New Data
Tam finds that using occupational sex composition (i.e. the
percentage female of an occupation) is simply another measure
of specialized skills.
In her analysis, a measure of “ occupation specific-training
time” is the most influential variable, and its addition
reduces the impact of occupation sex composition.
However, jobs also offer “positional capital,” which is the
ability of a job to increase one’s marketability for future jobs
by increasing one’s skills.
So if jobs with high positional capital are differentially
allocated it causes significant issues for women’s versus
men’s ability to improve their career opportunities.