IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10899.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Racial Peer Effects at Work : Evidence from Worker Deaths in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Schmeißer,Aiko
  • Katharina Maria Fietz

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of working with same-race coworkers on individuals’ retention at firms. Using administrative employer-employee data from Brazil, the paper exploits unexpected deaths of workers from different racial groups as exogenous shocks to peer group composition. The findings show that a decrease in the non-white share of coworkers reduces the retention of non-white workers but does not affect the retention of white workers. The effects are driven by non-whites quitting and moving to new jobs with more peers of the same race than in their old jobs. The findings highlight how peer dynamics can contribute to racial segregation across workplaces.

Suggested Citation

  • Schmeißer,Aiko & Katharina Maria Fietz, 2024. "Racial Peer Effects at Work : Evidence from Worker Deaths in Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10899, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10899
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099724209052434491/pdf/IDU-fb01d006-be2a-4592-a038-0cded8d510d4.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan S. Leonard & David I. Levine, 2006. "The Effect of Diversity on Turnover: A Large Case Study," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 59(4), pages 547-572, July.
    2. Elizabeth U. Cascio & Ethan G. Lewis, 2012. "Cracks in the Melting Pot: Immigration, School Choice, and Segregation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 91-117, August.
    3. Sarah J. Reber, 2005. "Court Ordered Desegregation: Successes and Failures Integrating American Schools since Brown versus Board of Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    4. Bernardus Van Doornik & David Schoenherr & Janis Skrastins, 2023. "Strategic Formal Layoffs: Unemployment Insurance and Informal Labor Markets," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 292-318, January.
    5. Christopher Cornwell & Jason Rivera & Ian M. Schmutte, 2017. "Wage Discrimination When Identity Is Subjective: Evidence from Changes in Employer-Reported Race," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(3), pages 719-755.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberto Alesina & Marco Tabellini, 2024. "The Political Effects of Immigration: Culture or Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 5-46, March.
    2. Murray, Thomas J., 2016. "Public or private? The influence of immigration on native schooling choices in the United States," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 268-283.
    3. Dean, Andrés, 2019. "Do successful worker-managed firms degenerate?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 317-329.
    4. Lewis, Ethan & Peri, Giovanni, 2015. "Immigration and the Economy of Cities and Regions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 625-685, Elsevier.
    5. Tumen, Semih, 2019. "Refugees and ‘native flight’ from public to private schools," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 154-159.
    6. Leonardo Bursztyn & Thomas Chaney & Tarek Alexander Hassan & Aakaash Rao, 2021. "The Immigrant Next Door: Long-Term Contact, Generosity, and Prejudice," NBER Working Papers 28448, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Brunner, Beatrice & Kuhn, Andreas, 2014. "Immigration, Cultural Distance and Natives' Attitudes Towards Immigrants: Evidence from Swiss Voting Results," IZA Discussion Papers 8409, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Andrea Moro & Peter Norman, 2019. "Endogenous Comparative Advantage," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 1088-1124, July.
    9. Christopher Cornwell & Ian M. Schmutte & Daniela Scur, 2021. "Building a Productive Workforce: The Role of Structured Management Practices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(12), pages 7308-7321, December.
    10. Morales, Camila, 2022. "Do refugee students affect the academic achievement of peers? Evidence from a large urban school district," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    11. Haile, Getinet Astatike, 2013. "Are You Unhappy Having Minority Co-Workers?," IZA Discussion Papers 7423, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Shi, Ying & Singleton, John D., 2019. "Expertise and Independence on Governing Boards: Evidence from School Districts," IZA Discussion Papers 12414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. David Figlio & Umut Özek, 2019. "Unwelcome Guests? The Effects of Refugees on the Educational Outcomes of Incumbent Students," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(4), pages 1061-1096.
    14. Tara Watson, 2013. "Enforcement and Immigrant Location Choice," NBER Working Papers 19626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Alexander M. Danzer & Carsten Feuerbaum & Marc Piopiunik & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Growing up in ethnic enclaves: language proficiency and educational attainment of immigrant children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1297-1344, July.
    16. Peter Hinrichs, 2024. "An Empirical Analysis of Racial Segregation in Higher Education," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 19(2), pages 218-251, Spring.
    17. Zimran, Ariell, 2022. "US immigrants’ secondary migration and geographic assimilation during the Age of Mass Migration," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    18. Steven Bednar & Dora Gicheva, 2019. "Workplace Support and Diversity in the Market for Public School Teachers," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(2), pages 272-297, Spring.
    19. Harding, Matthew & Hsiaw, Alice, 2014. "Goal setting and energy conservation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PA), pages 209-227.
    20. David Blau & Tetyana Shvydko, 2011. "Labor Market Rigidities and the Employment Behavior of Older Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(3), pages 464-484, April.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10899. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.