THE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT - IMPLICATIONS FOR RACE AND GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE US LABOR-MARKET

I link institutionalism in organizational theory with research on stratification and document the effects of the institutional environment, a noneconomic variable, on economic inequality, Using multiple indicators, I create a scale measuring how much the social environment within a state endorses equality of opportunity. Using 1980 Census data, I test whether industries with more of their employment in stares with environments less supportive of equality exhibit greater race/gender inequality in earnings and in access to good (skilled white-collar) jobs. I find that the more egalitarian the institutional environment, the less the inequality between Black men or Black women and White men. Results on whether the stale institutional environment affects inequality between White women and White men are equivocal. Industries with stronger ties to the national institutional environment are more favorable in terms of jobs and earnings for slack men, Black women, and White women, relative to White men. All analyses include controls for group differences in human capital, hours worked, average establishment size, and whether the industry is in the core sector.