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Why Has Black-White Skill Convergence Stopped?

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Author Info
Derek Neal

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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.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 11090.

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Date of creation: Jan 2005
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11090

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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References listed on IDEAS
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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. Eleonora Patacchini & Yves Zenou, 2006. "Racial Identity and Education," IZA Discussion Papers 2046, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. 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:
  3. 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!]
  4. 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!]
  5. Samuel Bowles & Glenn C. Loury & Rajiv Sethi, 2009. "Group Inequality," Economics Working Papers 0088, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science. [Downloadable!]
  6. 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)
  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. Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2007. "Ethnicity and Spatial Externalities in Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 6130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. 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!]
  10. 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)
  11. 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)
  12. Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov & Yona Rubinstein, 2008. "Racial Discrimination and Competition," NBER Working Papers 14273, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. 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:
  14. 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)
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