Working Paper: NBER ID: w1327
Authors: Jonathan S. Leonard
Abstract: Critics have said that affirmative action is at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive. In particular, it has been argued that if affirmative action helps anybody, it helps only the highly educated cream of the minority population, and may perversely work to the detriment of the unskilled and uneducated. This study finds that minority males earn higher wages in sectors where affirmative action is prevalent, indicating that it has increased the demand for minority males. I also find evidence of this effect for both the lowly and highly educated, suggesting that affirmative action under the Executive Order has not contributed to the economic bifurcation of the minority community.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Affirmative action (J78) | Demand for minority males (J79) |
| Affirmative action (J78) | Racial wage gap (J79) |
| Minority male wages (J79) | Racial wage gap (J79) |
| Affirmative action (J78) | Nonwhite wages relative to white wages (J79) |
| Affirmative action (J78) | Wages for less educated minorities (J79) |
| Affirmative action (J78) | Minority male wages (J79) |