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Macroeconomic Shocks and Racial Labour Market Differences in the U.S

Author

Listed:
  • Kuhelika De
  • Ryan A. Compton
  • Daniel C. Giedeman
  • Gary A. Hoover

Abstract

Using 136 United States macroeconomic indicators from 1973 to 2017, and a factor augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) framework with sign restrictions, we investigate the effects of three structural macroeconomic shocks - monetary, demand, and supply – on the labour market outcomes of black and white Americans. Our results indicate that adverse macroeconomic shocks have differential effects on labour market outcomes for blacks and whites, hurting blacks disproportionately relative to whites. Black Americans appear to be significantly more sensitive to macroeconomic shocks than white Americans. Evidence from our FAVAR model, which uses information on contractionary initiatives by the Federal Reserve, indicates that the employment-population ratio among black Americans falls close to twice as much as that among white Americans, primarily due to an increase in their unemployment rate and not a decline in labour force participation rate. Policymakers should take account of these heterogeneous effects across racial groups when implementing disinflationary guiding policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuhelika De & Ryan A. Compton & Daniel C. Giedeman & Gary A. Hoover, 2019. "Macroeconomic Shocks and Racial Labour Market Differences in the U.S," CESifo Working Paper Series 8004, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    macroeconomic shocks; monetary policy; business cycles; labour market; unemployment; racial inequality; FAVAR; sign restrictions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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