Journal of Economic Literature · 2023 · Shari Eli、Trevon D. Logan、Boriana Miloucheva
中文摘要
我们利用白人和黑人内战退伍军人在战后领取养老金的证据，考察收入对美国长期存在的种族死亡率差距的影响。为规避内生性，我们提出养老金收入的一种外生变异来源：负责残疾认证的医生所作出的判断。我们发现，养老金收入对寿命具有很大影响；原则上，其影响之大足以弥合黑人与白人之间的死亡率差距。然而，由于医生在评估残疾是否存在及其严重程度时歧视黑人，黑人获得的养老金待遇减少，因而在实践中未能消除种族死亡率差距。我们的发现揭示了关于种族的观念（而非种族敌意）在造成种族福祉差异中所起的作用。（JEL H55, I12, I14, I24, J15, N31）
Abstract
We investigate the effect of income on the long-standing racial mortality gap in the United States by using evidence from White and Black Civil War veterans who went on to receive postwar pensions. To circumvent endogeneity, we propose an exogenous source of variation in pension income: the judgment of the doctors who certified disability. We find large effects of pension income on longevity; large enough to close the Black–White mortality gap, in principle. However, because physicians discriminated against Blacks when evaluating the existence and severity of disabilities, Blacks received reduced pension benefits that failed to eliminate racial mortality gaps in practice. Our findings shed light on the role of beliefs about race, as opposed to racial animus, in contributing to racial differentials in well-being. (JEL H55, I12, I14, I24, J15, N31)