This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Why Has Black-White Skill Convergence Stopped?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Neal, Derek

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

All data sources indicate that black-white skill gaps diminished over most of the 20th century, but black-white skill gaps as measured by test scores among youth and educational attainment among young adults have remained constant or increased in absolute value since the late 1980s. I examine the potential importance of discrimination against skilled black workers, changes in black family structures, changes in black household incomes, black-white differences in parenting norms, and education policy as factors that may contribute to the recent stability of black-white skill gaps. Absent changes in public policy or the economy that facilitate investment in black children, best case scenarios suggest that even approximate black-white skill parity is not possible before 2050, and equally plausible scenarios imply that the black-white skill gap will remain quite significant throughout the 21st century.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B7P5H-4M4SRV4-F/1/dea13aa500fe3d1d21773bcbe9d86ed6
File Format:
File Function:
Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
This chapter was published in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.) , Elsevier, chapter 09, pages 511-576, 2006.

This item is provided by Elsevier in its series Handbook of the Economics of Education with number 1-09.

Handle: RePEc:eee:educhp:1-09

Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.elsevierdirect.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780444513991

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Heidi Boesdal).

Related research
This chapter was published in the following book, which is listed on IDEAS:
Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Keywords: basic skills; black-white differences; convergence;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. David M. Blau, 1999. "The Effect Of Income On Child Development," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 261-276, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Gary Solon, 2002. "Cross-Country Differences in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 59-66, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Katz, Lawrence F. & Autor, David H., 1999. "Changes in the wage structure and earnings inequality," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1463-1555 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Pedro Carneiro & Karsten T. Hansen & James J. Heckman, 2003. "Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College," NBER Working Papers 9546, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Stephen V. Cameron & James J. Heckman, 2001. "The Dynamics of Educational Attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White Males," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 455-499, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Hansen, Karsten T. & Heckman, James J. & Mullen, Kathleen J., 2003. "The Effect of Schooling and Ability on Achievement Test Scores," IZA Discussion Papers 826, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Loury, Glenn C, 1981. "Intergenerational Transfers and the Distribution of Earnings," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 843-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Steven Haider & Gary Solon, 2006. "Life-Cycle Variation in the Association between Current and Lifetime Earnings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1308-1320, September. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Kenneth Arrow, 1971. "The Theory of Discrimination," Working Papers 403, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
  10. Derek Neal, 2004. "The Measured Black-White Wage Gap among Women Is Too Small," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(S1), pages S1-S28, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Pedro Carneiro & James J. Heckman, 2002. "The Evidence on Credit Constraints in Post--secondary Schooling," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 705-734, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates Of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Cameron, Stephen V & Heckman, James J, 1993. "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 1-47, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Grogger, Jeff, 1996. "Does School Quality Explain the Recent Black/White Wage Trend?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(2), pages 231-53, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Blau, David & Currie, Janet, 2006. "Pre-School, Day Care, and After-School Care: Who's Minding the Kids?," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-61, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Neal, Derek A & Johnson, William R, 1996. "The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 869-95, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  18. Roland G. Fryer & Steven D. Levitt, 2004. "Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 447-464, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Heckman, James J. & Lochner, Lance J. & Todd, Petra E., 2003. "Fifty Years of Mincer Earnings Regressions," IZA Discussion Papers 775, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  20. Fabian Lange, 2005. "The Returns to Schooling and Ability During the Early Career: Evidence on Employer Learning and Post-School Investment," 2005 Meeting Papers 253, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
  21. David Austen-Smith & Roland G. Fryer, 2003. "The Economics of 'Acting White'," NBER Working Papers 9904, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1985. "Children as Collective Goods and Divorce Settlements," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 268-92, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1986. "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages S1-39, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  24. Thomas J. Nechyba, 2001. "Social Approval, Values, and AFDC: A Reexamination of the Illegitimacy Debate," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 637-666, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  25. William J. Collins & Robert A. Margo, 2003. "Historical Perspectives on Racial Differences in Schooling in the United States," Working Papers 0313, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  26. Smith, James P, 1984. "Race and Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 685-98, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. Carneiro, Pedro & Hansen, Karsten T. & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College Choice," IZA Discussion Papers 767, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  28. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  29. Joseph G. Altonji & Charles R. Pierret, 2001. "Employer Learning And Statistical Discrimination," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(1), pages 313-350, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  30. Derek Neal, 2004. "The Relationship Between Marriage Market Prospects and Never-Married Motherhood," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(4). [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "Racial Identity and Education," CEPR Discussion Papers 5607, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Elizabeth Cascio & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2007. "First in the Class? Age and the Education Production Function," NBER Working Papers 13663, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Eric A. Hanushek & Steven G. Rivkin, 2008. "Harming the Best: How Schools Affect the Black-White Achievement Gap," NBER Working Papers 14211, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Francis Vella & Lídia Farré & Roger Klein, 2009. "Does increasing parents' schooling raise the schooling of the next generation? Evidence based on conditional second moments," Working Papers. Serie AD 2009-11, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Joseph G. Altonji & Prashant Bharadwaj & Fabian Lange, 2008. "Changes in the Characteristics of American Youth: Implications for Adult Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 13883, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov & Yona Rubinstein, 2008. "Racial Discrimination and Competition," NBER Working Papers 14273, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Zenou, Yves, 2007. "Social Interactions and Labour Market Outcomes in Cities," CEPR Discussion Papers 6129, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Jens Ludwig & Douglas L. Miller, 2005. "Does Head Start Improve Children's Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," NBER Working Papers 11702, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2007. "Ethnicity and Spatial Externalities in Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 6130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Samuel Bowles & Rajiv Sethi, 2006. "Social Segregation and the Dynamics of Group Inequality," Working Papers 2006-02, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  11. Samuel Bowles & Glenn C. Loury & Rajiv Sethi, 2009. "Group Inequality," Economics Working Papers 0088, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science. [Downloadable!]
  12. Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "The Dynamics of the Racial Test Score Gap During the School Years in Britain," CEPR Discussion Papers 5661, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Simon Burgess & Deborah Wilson & Adam Briggs & Anete Piebalga, 2008. "Segregation and the Attainment of Minority Ethnic Pupils in England," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 08/204, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  14. Eleonora Patacchini & Yves Zenou, 2007. "The Racial Test Score Gap and Parental Involvement in Britain," IZA Discussion Papers 2613, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS is also providing many rankings, for example of authors and institutions.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-20.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.