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Research ArticleArticle

Speech and Wages

Jeffrey Grogger
Published online before print April 05, 2018, 0617-8841R; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.54.4.0617.8841R
Jeffrey Grogger
The author is the Irving Harris Professor in Urban Policy at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.
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Abstract

Although language has been widely studied, relatively little is known about how a worker’s speech, in his native tongue, is related to his wages, or what explains the observed relationship. To address these questions, I analyzed audio data from respondents to the NLSY97. Wages are strongly associated with speech patterns among both African Americans and Southern whites. For Southern whites, this is largely explained by residential location. For blacks, it is explained by sorting: workers with mainstream speech sort toward occupations that involve intensive interpersonal interactions and earn a sizeable wage premium there.

JEL code
  • J7
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Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
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Speech and Wages
Jeffrey Grogger
Journal of Human Resources Apr 2018, 0617-8841R; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.54.4.0617.8841R

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Speech and Wages
Jeffrey Grogger
Journal of Human Resources Apr 2018, 0617-8841R; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.54.4.0617.8841R
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