No abstract

Since the 1970s, firm-internal opportunities for advancement have waned, and more employees have switched employers to build their career. The author compares the effect of staying and leaving one’s employer and how each career avenue reproduces or alleviates race-based earnings inequality. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics 1976–2009, the author finds that racial differences among women are unaffected by external mobility. Among men, the effect of switching depends on education: Since the 1970s, the Black–White gap first widened and then narrowed among male high school graduates. In contrast, the race gap first narrowed and then widened among male college graduates.

Research indicates men often receive greater merit rewards than women for the same performance. It is unclear, however, whether gender differences in merit rewards narrow with increasing firm tenure or whether gender differences in merit-rewards stay constant across employees' firm-internal career. Using longitudinal personnel records of a private U.S. employer (2005–2014), the author finds no evidence for declining gender effects on pay when employees stay longer, not even among nonprofessionals where performance is easier to assess. Results contradict information-based theories and speak to status characteristics theory. Moreover, gender disparities are significant only when supervisors have discretion over merit increases.

This paper investigates the question of whether and how restrictive immigration policies affect the earnings of Latinxs who are not the target of these policies—that is, Latinx citizens. Focusing on policies at the state (E-Verify) and county (287(g)) level, we investigate possible spillover on Latinx citizen earnings from 2006 through 2016. We use multiple sources of data, merging policy and census data with two national probability samples of Latinx citizens. Our results show that E-Verify and 287(g) affect earnings similarly. Laws leave wage-employed workers unaffected and instead exclusively shape the earnings of self-employed respondents. Among self-employed, policy effects depend on the type of county respondents live in. Once laws like 287(g) or E-Verify go into effect, Latinx self-employed see dramatic earnings losses when living outside of ethnic enclaves, while seeing earnings gains when living within predominantly-Latinx counties.