Working Paper: NBER ID: w16257
Authors: Roland G. Fryer Jr.
Abstract: After decades of narrowing, the achievement gap between black and white school children widened in the 1990s - a period when the labor market rewards for education were increasing. This presents an important puzzle for economists. In this chapter, I investigate the extent to which economic models of segregation, information-based discrimination, peer dynamics, and identity can explain this puzzle. Under a reasonable set of assumptions, models of peer dynamics and identity are consistent with the time-series data. Segregation and models of discrimination both contradict the trends in important ways.
Keywords: Racial Achievement Gap; Segregation; Discrimination; Peer Dynamics; Identity
JEL Codes: J01; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| economic models of peer dynamics and identity (C92) | widening achievement gap (I24) |
| Peer dynamics (C92) | disincentives for academic investment among black students (D29) |
| Segregation (R28) | widening achievement gap (I24) |
| Information-based discrimination models (C52) | widening achievement gap (I24) |
| Cultural shift regarding identity and social perceptions (Z13) | educational investment decisions among black students (I26) |