Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16718
Authors: Nancy Qian; Marco Tabellini
Abstract: This paper investigates the empirical relationship between inclusion and state capacity, as theorized by Besley and Persson (2009). We examine the impact of racial discrimination on Black U.S. military enlistment during the onset of WWII. We find that discrimination had a large and negative effect on volunteer enlistment after the Pearl Harbor attack. The result is robust to a large number of controls that account for potential confounders. The negative effect of discrimination is moderated by geographical proximity to Pearl Harbor, and is larger for educated men. We provide consistent evidence for Japanese Americans.
Keywords: state capacity; war; institutions
JEL Codes: D72; J15; N92; P16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| racial discrimination (J71) | black U.S. military enlistment (H56) |
| racial discrimination (J71) | discouragement effect on enlistment (H56) |
| racial discrimination (J71) | hindered state capacity during wartime (H56) |
| discrimination index one standard deviation lower (J79) | black volunteer enlistment (J45) |
| proximity to Pearl Harbor (R53) | discouragement effects of discrimination (J79) |
| county characteristics interacted with week fixed effects (C21) | enlistment rates (H56) |