Working Paper: NBER ID: w9938
Authors: Roland G. Fryer Jr.; Steven D. Levitt
Abstract: In the 1960's, Blacks and Whites chose relatively similar first names for their children. Over a short period of time in the early 1970's, that pattern changed dramatically with most Blacks (particularly those living in racially isolated neighborhoods) adopting increasingly distinctive names, but a subset of Blacks actually moving toward more assimilating names. The patterns in the data appear most consistent with a model in which the rise of the Black Power movement influenced how Blacks perceived their identities. Among Blacks born in the last two decades, names provide a strong signal of socio-economic status, which was not previously the case. We find, however, no negative causal impact of having a distinctively Black name on life outcomes. Although that result is seemingly in conflict with previous audit studies involving resumes, we argue that the two sets of findings can be reconciled.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: J0; J7; Z1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| distinctively black names (J15) | employment (J68) |
| distinctively black names (J15) | socioeconomic outcomes (I24) |
| distinctively black names (J15) | employer discrimination (J71) |
| distinctively black names (J15) | negative perceptions (D91) |
| naming conventions (Y20) | economic struggles (P46) |
| family background characteristics (J12) | labor market productivity (J29) |