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An Empirical Analysis of 'Acting White'

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Author Info
Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
Paul Torelli

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Abstract

There is a debate among social scientists regarding the existence of a peer externality commonly referred to as 'acting white.' Using a newly available data set (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), which allows one to construct an objective measure of a student's popularity, we demonstrate that there are large racial differences in the relationship between popularity and academic achievement; our (albeit narrow) definition of 'acting white.' The effect is intensified among high achievers and in schools with more interracial contact, but non-existent among students in predominantly black schools or private schools. The patterns in the data appear most consistent with a two-audience signaling model in which investments in education are thought to be indicative of an individual's opportunity costs of peer group loyalty. Other models we consider, such as self-sabotage among black youth or the presence of an oppositional culture, all contradict the data in important ways.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 11334.

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Date of creation: May 2005
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11334

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J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Jeffrey R Kling & Jeffrey B Liebman & Lawrence F Katz, 2007. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 83-119, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Cook, Michael D & Evans, William N, 2000. "Families or Schools? Explaining the Convergence in White and Black Academic Performance," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(4), pages 729-54, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Neal, Derek, 1997. "The Effects of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 98-123, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Kling, Jeffrey & Liebman, Jeffrey, 2004. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects on Youth," Working Paper Series rwp04-034, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
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  5. 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)
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  6. Roland G. Fryer & Steven D. Levitt, 2005. "The Black-White Test Score Gap Through Third Grade," NBER Working Papers 11049, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. David Austen-Smith & Roland G. Fryer, 2005. "An Economic Analysis of "Acting White"," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 120(2), pages 551-583, May.
  8. David Card & Jesse Rothstein, 2006. "Racial Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap," NBER Working Papers 12078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. William Rodgers & William Spriggs, 1996. "What does the AFQT really measure: Race, wages, schooling and the AFQT score," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 13-46, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. O'Neill, June, 1990. "The Role of Human Capital in Earnings Differences between Black and White Men," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 25-45, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Jeffrey R. Kling & Jens Ludwig & Lawrence F. Katz, 2005. "Neighborhood Effects on Crime for Female and Male Youth: Evidence from a Randomized Housing Voucher Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 120(1), pages 87-130, January.
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  12. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  13. Federico Echenique & Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2005. "On the Measurement of Segregation," Labor and Demography 0503006, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  14. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics And Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(3), pages 715-753, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. 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)
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  16. David Austen-Smith & Roland G. Fryer, 2003. "The Economics of 'Acting White'," NBER Working Papers 9904, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. 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. [Downloadable!]
  18. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2002. "Identity and Schooling: Some Lessons for the Economics of Education," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1167-1201, December.
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(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. Roland G. Fryer, Jr., 2006. "A Model of Social Interactions and Endogenous Poverty Traps," NBER Working Papers 12364, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mary A. Burke & Tim R. Sass, 2006. "Classroom Peer Effects and Student Achievement," Working Papers wp2006_02_02, Department of Economics, Florida State University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Yannis M. Ioannides & Giorgio Topa, 2009. "Neighborhood Effects: Accomplishments and Looking Beyond Them," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0736, Department of Economics, Tufts University. [Downloadable!]
  4. Julian Berengaut & Katrin Elborgh-Woytek, 2006. "Beauty Queens and Wallflowers--Currency Unions in the Middle East and Central Asia," IMF Working Papers 06/226, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  5. Bisin, Alberto & Patacchini, Eleonora & Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2007. "Are Muslim Immigrants Different in Terms of Cultural Integration?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6453, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Nekby, Lena & Rödin, Magnus, 2007. "Acculturation Identity and Labor Market Outcomes," SULCIS Working Papers 2007:4, Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS. [Downloadable!]
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  7. 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!]
  8. Susan Clampet-Lundquist & J. Greg Duncan & Kathryn Edin & Jeffrey R. Kling, 2006. "Moving At-Risk Teenagers Out of High-Risk Neighborhoods: Why Girls Fare Better Than Boys," Working Papers 888, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
  9. Steven N. Durlauf & Yannis M. Ioannides, 2009. "Social Interactions," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0739, Department of Economics, Tufts University. [Downloadable!]
  10. 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)
  11. Lindqvist, Erik & Östling, Robert, 2006. "Identity and Redistribution," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 659, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 12 Jun 2007. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Kata Mihaly, 2009. "Do More Friends Mean Better Grades?: Student Popularity and Academic Achievement," Working Papers 678, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
  13. Lena Nekby & Magnus Rödin & Gülay Özcan, 2007. "Acculturation Identity and Educational Attainment," IZA Discussion Papers 3172, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Roland G. Fryer & Michael Greenstone, 2007. "The Causes and Consequences of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities," NBER Working Papers 13036, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. de Walque, Damien, 2008. "Race, immigration, and the U.S. labor marke t: contrasting the outcomes of foreign born and native blacks," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4737, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  16. Braz Camargo & Todd Stinebrickner & Ralph Stinebrickner, 2007. "Evidence about the Potential Role for Affirmative Action in Higher Education," NBER Working Papers 13342, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Bisin, Alberto & Patacchini, Eleonora & Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "'Bend It Like Beckham': Identity, Socialization and Assimilation," CEPR Discussion Papers 5662, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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