COMPARATIVE LABOR SUPPLY OF BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN Emily P. Hoffman Differences between black and white women's labor supply are exam- ined in order to investigate why black women have a higher labor force participation rate (LFPR) than white women. A possible explanation is that black households are poorer and are less likely to be able to rely on hus- band's earnings than are white households. The first part of this article presents a neoclassical theory of family labor supply based on utility maxi- mization in a form suitable for empirical estimation. In the next section, the resulting model is fitted separately for black and white women -- both married and other -- using the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) data for mature women for 1969, 1971, and 1974. Income, substitution, and cross-elasticities are computed in order to examine the sensitivity of black and white women's labor supply to changes in unearned income, as well as to their own and their husband's (for married women) earnings. The effect of young children on women's LFPRs and labor supply is also investi- gated. The empirical findings of this study are then compared with those of previous studies. THE MODEL A family labor supply model, similar to that outlined by Ashenfelter and Heckman' is used. The family is assumed to maximize its utility, subject to a budget constraint. The utility function depends on nonwork as well as market work hours for both male and female; it also depends on quantity of goods purchased. The budget constraint depends on total time available for nonwork hours and market work combined, hourly wage rates of wife and husband, earned income, and unearned income. It is assumed that earned plus unearned income are entirely spent on goods.