This proposal presents the beginnings of the empirical examination of an alternative theoretical explanation of both the general phenomena of sustained wage differentials between qualitatively similar workers, and the particular phenomena of longstanding black-white employment and wage differentials. Two literatures provide the context for this proposal. The first is represented by Krueger and Summer's review of studies on the inter-industry wage structures of capitalist economies. The second is a neoclassical theory that have rejected the idea that long-term labor market discrimination can persist in a competitive economy. The proposed research agenda of this proposal speaks to both of these literatures. To the extent that it can explain wage differentials between black and whites, it also addresses the more general concerns of wage theorists; however, it does so by making a radical departure from the orthodox economists' conventional conceptualization of competition.
