The Costs of Employment Segregation: Evidence from the Federal Government Under Woodrow Wilson
中文摘要
我们将新近数字化的1907—1921年美国政府人事记录与人口普查数据相匹配，研究伍德罗·威尔逊总统执政时期文官体系按种族的隔离情况。采用围绕威尔逊就职构建的双重差分设计，我们发现，就业隔离制度的实施使黑人与白人的收入差距扩大了3.4—6.9个百分点。这一差距扩大源于现有黑人文官被重新调配至薪酬较低的职位，从而降低了他们的教育回报。重要的是，这些负面影响延续至威尔逊总统任期之后。利用1900—1940年的人口普查数据，我们表明，种族隔离导致黑人文官的住房自有率相对下降。此外，通过比较黑人和白人文官子女成年后的状况，我们提供了提示性证据，表明在威尔逊总统任期内受到影响的黑人文官之后代，其教育程度、收入和社会流动性均较低。因此，我们的综合结果记录了在这一国家认可的歧视的特殊时期，少数群体所承受的显著短期和长期成本。
Abstract
Abstract We link newly digitized personnel records of the U.S. government for 1907–1921 to census data to study the segregation of the civil service by race under President Woodrow Wilson. Using a difference-in-differences design around Wilson’s inauguration, we find that the introduction of employment segregation increased the black-white earnings gap by 3.4–6.9 percentage points. This increasing gap is driven by a reallocation of existing black civil servants to lower-paid positions, lowering their returns to education. Importantly, the negative effects extend beyond Wilson’s presidency. Using census data for 1900–1940, we show that segregation caused a relative decline in the home ownership rate of black civil servants. Moreover, by comparing children of black and white civil servants in adulthood, we provide suggestive evidence that descendants of black civil servants who were exposed to Wilson’s presidency exhibit lower levels of education, earnings, and social mobility. Our combined results thus document significant short- and long-run costs borne by minorities during a unique episode of state-sanctioned discrimination.