Abstract: This paper examines how changes in occupational task structure have shaped the Black–White wage gap since 1980. Using long-run U.S. Census and ACS microdata linked to occupation-level task measures, I document that racial gaps in task intensities have generally narrowed over time, but that task returns have evolved unevenly. In particular, Social tasks command high and sharply rising premia, while returns to most other tasks remain relatively stable. Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions reveal that although Black workers have increasingly moved into occupations with higher Social task content, this convergence has been too slow to keep pace with the rapid rise in the valuation of Social tasks. Consequently, rising task prices, rather than sorting patterns, increasingly contribute to racial wage disparities across the distribution, offsetting potential convergence in the lower and middle segments. These findings identify shifting task prices as a central mechanism behind the persistent racial wage gap in the United States.
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