Summary of Studies
of Wage Discrimination
in
the National Basketball Association
Studies published from 1988-2004
|
Wage Discrimination Studies |
Years |
Sample |
Results |
|
Kahn and Sherer (1988) |
1985-86 |
226 players |
Significant (1%) positive
coefficient for whites. |
|
Koch and Vander Hill (1988) |
1984-85 |
278 players |
Significant (10%) positive
coefficient for whites. |
|
Wallace (1988) |
1984-85 |
229 players |
Significant (10%) positive
coefficient for whites. |
|
Brown, Spiro, and Keenan
(1991) |
1984-85 |
227 players |
Significant (5%) negative
coefficient for blacks. |
|
Jenkins
(1996) |
1983-94 |
368 players |
Insignificant
race coefficient. |
|
Dey (1997) |
1987-89, 1990-93 |
1,306 players |
Insignificant
race coefficient. |
|
|
1994-95 |
332 players |
Quantile regression reveals evidence of a premium to white
players at the upper-end of the income distribution. |
|
Gius and Johnson (1998) |
1996-97 |
328 players |
Insignificant
race coefficient. |
|
Bodvarsson and Brastow
(1998) |
1990-91 |
151 players |
Insignificant
race coefficient. |
|
Bodvarsson and Brastow
(1999) |
1985-86 and 1990-91 |
226 and 263 players |
Significant
race coefficient for the 1985-86 season, insignificant race coefficient for
the 1990-91 campaign |
|
Bodvarsson and Partridge (2001) |
1985-86 and 1990-91 |
226 and 263 players |
Evidence of co-worker
discrimination by white players and customer discrimination by black fans. |
|
Eschker, Perez, and Siegler
(2004) |
Separate Regression for each season from 1996-97 to 2001-02 |
Sample ranges from 330 to 368 players |
Significant race
coefficient from the 1998-99 season, insignificant
in all other seasons. |
Note: The descriptions of the first four studies are
taken from Kahn (1991)
Source: Berri, David J. (2005) “Economics and the National
Basketball Association: Surveying the Literature
at the Tip-off.”
in The
Handbook of Sports Economics Research edited by John Fizel;
M.E. Sharpe, Inc.: p. 23.