Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Follow JHR on Bluesky
Research ArticleArticles

Two Sides of the Same Coin

U.S. “Residual” Inequality and the Gender Gap

Marigee P. Bacolod and Bernardo S. Blum
Journal of Human Resources, January 2010, 45 (1) 197-242; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.45.1.197
Marigee P. Bacolod
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Bernardo S. Blum
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

We show that the narrowing gender gap and the growth in earnings inequality are consistent with a simple model in which skills are heterogeneous, and the growth in skill prices has been particularly strong for skills with which women are well endowed. Empirical analysis of DOT, CPS, and NLSY79 data finds evidence to support this model. A large increase in the prices of cognitive and people skills—skills with which women are well endowed—and a decline in the price of motor skills account for up to 40 percent of the rising inequality and 20 percent of the narrowing gender gap.

  • Received April 2008.
  • Accepted December 2008.
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 45, Issue 1
1 Jan 2010
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Marigee P. Bacolod, Bernardo S. Blum
Journal of Human Resources Jan 2010, 45 (1) 197-242; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.45.1.197

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Marigee P. Bacolod, Bernardo S. Blum
Journal of Human Resources Jan 2010, 45 (1) 197-242; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.45.1.197
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • I. Introduction
    • II. Analytical Framework
    • III. Data
    • IV. The Returns to Different Skills in the U.S. Economy
    • V. Returns to Skills and Residual Inequality
    • VI. Returns to Skills and the Male-Female Wage Gap
    • VII. Conclusion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Changes in Returns to Task-Specific Skills and Gender Wage Gap
  • Employer Learning and the "Importance" of Skills
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Sexual Orientation and Multiple Job Holding
  • Owning the Agent
  • Understanding the Educational Attainment Polygenic Index and its Interactions with SES in Determining Health in Young Adulthood
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

UW Press logo

© 2025 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire