An Examination of the Relative Wage Rate of Artists

This thesis examines the earnings of artists. The determinants of earnings are examined, and compared to the earnings of the remaining workforce to determine if artists receive differential treatment. The One Percent Public-Use Micro-data Samples from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses were used to assess any variation in this treatment between 1990 and 2000. The results show that there is an increase in the rate at which artists are compensated in salaried employment from 1990 to 2000, relative to the rest of the workforce. The Oaxaca decomposition is also applied to the wage differential between artists and non-artists, and results show that the major portion of the differential can be explained by observable characteristics