Job queues, discrimination, and affirmative action

Abstract

If employers ha¨e different Becker-type discrimination coefficients for different demographic groups, then the implementation of affirmati¨e action may ha¨e a differential impact on those groups. We estimate two¨ector autoregressi¨e models of the U.S. economy, including the unemployment rates of four demographic groups. We find that a job queue existed before the implementation of affirmati¨e action and that affirmati¨e action changed the ordering of the job queue in manner that had a negati¨e impact on nonwhite males. We find e¨idence that affirmati¨e action may ha¨e increased the unemployment rate of nonwhite males by increasing their Ž . duration of unemployment. JEL J71, J78, J64, J68

The Differential Effects of Output Shocks on Unemployment Rates by Race and Gender

“…It should be noted that the unemployment rate responses to an output shock could, in fact, change over time. Bisping and Fain (2000) find evidence that the relative unemployment rate responses of various demographic groups are different in the period before affirmative action laws were enacted than in the period after they were enacted. Since affirmative action laws were first enacted in May 1968, the entire period covered in our study was subject to affirmative action laws.…”

“…They find that the spatial job search quality is lower for blacks than for whites and that blacks tend to search for jobs in areas with lower employment growth than whites. Bisping and Fain (2000) examine the affect of affirmative action on the unemployment rates of white males, white females, nonwhite males, and nonwhite females. Using a vector autoregressive model (VAR) and estimating responses with a cumulative impulse response function (CIRF), they estimate the effect that an unemployment rate shock to one demographic group has on the unemployment rates of the other three demographic groups.…”

Equal-treatment policy in a random search model with taste discrimination

“…white females). For evidence on this last issue, see Bisping and Fain (2000). 5 For the U.S., see e.g.…”

Racial discrimination: Theories, facts and policy

“…For example, Bisping and Fain (2000) argue that the implementation of affirmative action policies in the United States labour market in the aftermath of the 1964 Civil Rights Act changed the ordering of job queues. Before affirmative action, White men came first followed by White women, non-White men and non-White women.…”