REGIONAL PATTERNS OF AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION COMPLIANCE COSTS

In this paper we estimate the amount by which firms' labor costs are i ncreased by compliance with affirmative action regulations imposed on federal contractors for 160 SMSAs in 1980. The paper focuses on determ ining the cause(s) for variation in these ''compliance costs'' across SMSAs and in identifying areas of high and low compliance cost. We fin d that compliance costs are lower in larger SMSAs, more rapidly growin g SMSAs, and SMSAs that have relatively large proportions of minoritie s and females in the labor market.