MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: RACE, RECESSION, AND SOCIAL CLOSURE IN THE LOW-WAGE LABOR MARKET: EXPERIMENTAL AND OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2017

DOI: 10.1108/S0277-283320170000030007

Abstract: This paper tests whether employers responded particularly negatively to African American job applicants during the deep U.S. recession that began in 2007. Theories of labor queuing and social closure posit that members of privileged groups will act to minimize labor market competition in times of economic turbulence, which could advantage Whites relative to African Americans. Although social closure should be weakest in the less desirable, low-wage job market, it may extend downward during recessions, pushing minority groups further down the labor queue and exacerbating racial inequalities in hiring. We consider two complementary data sources: (1) a field experiment with a randomized block design and (2) the nationally representative NLSY97 sample. Contrary to expectations, both analyses reveal a comparable recession-based decline in job prospects for White and African American male applicants, implying that hiring managers did not adapt new forms of social closure and demonstrating the durability of inequality even in times of structural change. Despite this proportionate drop, however, the recession left African Americans in an extremely disadvantaged position. Whites during the recession obtained favorable responses from employers at rates similar to African Americans prior to the recession. The combination Emerging Conceptions of Work, Management and the Labor Market Research in the Sociology of Work, Volume 30, 141À183 of experimental methods and nationally representative longitudinal data yields strong evidence on how race and recession affect job prospects in the low-wage labor market.

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Authors: Vuolo, Mike; Uggen, Christopher; Lageson, Sarah Esther

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IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop