Economic and Social Factors in Income Inequality: Race and Sex Discrimination and Status as Elements in Wage Differentials

Abstract

Abstract. This paper examines by the use of several econometric techniques some of the economic and social factors in wage differentials as elements in income inequality. The effects of education, sex, occupation, class of workers, industry, race, marital status, hours and weeks worked, and age are analyzed by the use of regression analysis in conjunction with binary variables and joint tests of significance. The results show that the inclusion of the sex variable represents a significant improvement over previous economic models and that it is not the number of years of education that is important but rather the obtaining of academic degrees.