 |
I study the evolution of the difference of median log-annual earnings between Blacks and Whites in the US, using decennial Census data from 1960 to 2010 and the American Community Survey from 2006 to 2015. I focus on the median log-wage of men between 25 and 55. I find that 1) the unconditional median racial log-wage gap increases from 0.55 before the crisis to a peak of 0.75 in 2010 and 2011, which is higher that its value pre-civil rights act, 2) controlling for age and education, the conditional racial wage gap increases from 0.42 before to crisis to 0.59 afterwards, 3) the unexplained share of the unconditional racial wage gap increases of 3 points between 2006 and 2012, but remains lower than before the Civil Rights Act, 4) adding State fixed-effects and controlling for occupation changes the level of both the conditional and unconditional racial wage-gap, but the dynamics of the latter does not change through specifications.
