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Racial Identity and Education

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  • Zenou, Yves
  • Patacchini, Eleonora

Abstract

We investigate the sources of differences in school performance between students of different races by focusing on identity issues. We find that having a higher percentage of same-race friends has a positive effect of white teenagers? test score while having a negative effect on blacks? test scores. However, the higher the education level of a black teenager?s parent, the lower this negative effect, while for whites, it is the reverse. It is thus the combination of the choice of friends (which is a measure of own identity) and the parent?s education that are responsible for the difference in education attainment between students of different races but also between students of the same race. One interesting aspects of this paper is to provide a theoretical model that grounds the instrumental variable approach used in the empirical analysis to deal with endogeneity issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Zenou, Yves & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2006. "Racial Identity and Education," CEPR Discussion Papers 5607, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5607
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    11. David Austen-Smith & Ronald G. Fryer, 2005. "An Economic Analysis of 'Acting White'," Discussion Papers 1399, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    12. Selod, Harris & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Does City Structure Affect the Labor Market Outcomes of Black Workers?," IZA Discussion Papers 928, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Caroline Hoxby, 2000. "Peer Effects in the Classroom: Learning from Gender and Race Variation," NBER Working Papers 7867, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Alberto Bisin & Eleonora Patacchini & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2011. "Ethnic identity and labour market outcomes of immigrants in Europe [Assessing the oppositional culture explanation for racial/ethnic differences in school performance]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 57-92.
    2. Harminder Battu & Yves Zenou, 2010. "Oppositional Identities and Employment for Ethnic Minorities: Evidence from England," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 52-71, February.
    3. Nekby, Lena & Rödin, Magnus, 2007. "Acculturation Identity and Labor Market Outcomes," Research Papers in Economics 2007:7, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
    4. Zenou, Yves & De Martí, Joan, 2009. "Ethnic Identity and Social Distance in Friendship Formation," CEPR Discussion Papers 7566, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Nekby, Lena & Rödin, Magnus & Özcan, Gülay, 2007. "Acculturation Identity and Educational Attainment," SULCIS Working Papers 2007:6, Stockholm University, Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS.
    6. Marco Tonello, 2011. "Mechanisms of peer interactions between native and non-native students: rejection or integration?," Working Papers 2011/21, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    7. Donna L. Feir, 2016. "The long-term effects of forcible assimilation policy: The case of Indian boarding schools," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(2), pages 433-480, May.
    8. Nekby, Lena & Rödin, Magnus, 2010. "Acculturation identity and employment among second and middle generation immigrants," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 35-50, February.
    9. Dev, Pritha & Mberu, Blessing & Pongou, Roland, 2013. "Communitarianism, Oppositional Cultures, and Human Capital Contagion: Theory and Evidence from Formal versus Koranic Education," MPRA Paper 46234, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Apr 2013.
    10. Giovanni Facchini & Eleonora Patacchini & Max F. Steinhardt, 2015. "Migration, Friendship Ties, and Cultural Assimilation," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(2), pages 619-649, April.
    11. Giuseppina Autiero, 2017. "Ethnic identity and scholastic effort: a multifaceted approach," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ethnic minorities; Peer effects; Education achievement; Endogeneity issues;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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