RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Speech and Wages
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0617-8841R
DO 10.3368/jhr.54.4.0617.8841R
A1 Grogger, Jeffrey
YR 2018
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2018/04/02/jhr.54.4.0617.8841R.abstract
AB 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.