蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Civil Rights Enforcement and the Racial Wage Gap
蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings
(pp. 196–200)
Abstract
We present new evidence on three measures of civil rights enforcement鈥攍itigation, judge dismissal, and plaintiff win rates鈥攁cross US district courts from 1979 to 2016. Across courts, higher shares of Republican judges are associated with higher dismissal rates regardless of court composition in terms of gender and race. Further, we find that states with higher litigation rates also exhibit higher racial wage gaps, whereas states with higher judge dismissal (plaintiff win) rates experience higher (lower) racial wage gaps. Our results highlight the importance of legal institutions on the persistence of racial inequality.Citation
Cunningham, Jamein P., and Jose Joaquin Lopez. 2021. "Civil Rights Enforcement and the Racial Wage Gap." 蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings 111: 196–200. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211111Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- J71 Labor Discrimination
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
- K38 Human Rights Law; Gender Law
- K31 Labor Law
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law