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Upward Mobility and Discrimination: The Case of Asian Americans

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  • Nathaniel Hilger

Abstract

Asian Americans are the only non-white US racial group to experience long-term, institutional discrimination and subsequently exhibit high income. I re-examine this puzzle in California, where most Asians settled historically. Asians achieved extraordinary upward mobility relative to blacks and whites for every cohort born in California since 1920. This mobility stemmed primarily from gains in earnings conditional on education, rather than unusual educational mobility. Historical test score and prejudice data suggest low initial earnings for Asians, unlike blacks, reflected prejudice rather than skills. Post-war declines in discrimination interacting with previously uncompensated skills can account for Asians’ extraordinary upward mobility.

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  • Nathaniel Hilger, 2016. "Upward Mobility and Discrimination: The Case of Asian Americans," NBER Working Papers 22748, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22748
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    3. Shervin Assari, 2018. "Parental Education Better Helps White than Black Families Escape Poverty: National Survey of Children’s Health," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-14, May.
    4. Timothy J. Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2024. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850–1940," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 507-535, Springer.
    5. Nathan Deutscher, 2020. "What Drives Second Generation Success? The Roles Of Education, Culture, And Context," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1707-1730, October.
    6. Chen, Shuo & Xie, Bin, 2020. "Institutional Discrimination and Assimilation: Evidence from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882," IZA Discussion Papers 13647, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Regina S. Baker & David Brady & Zachary Parolin & Deadric T. Williams, 2022. "The Enduring Significance of Ethno-Racial Inequalities in Poverty in the U.S., 1993–2017," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1049-1083, June.
    8. Andrew Hanson & Zackary Hawley, 2024. "Chinese exclusion? Agent response in the market for owner‐occupied housing," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1340-1372, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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