Studies of Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Labor and Educational Outcomes

Abstract

This dissertation consists of studies within the topics of economic mobility and educational attainment. The main groups under study are immigrants and African Americans within the U.S. Each of the three chapters use a combination of historical linked Census records, administrative, and other publicly available data. The first chapter studies the impact of ethnic capital during childhood on the future economic outcomes of immigrant males. The second chapter makes use of a combined dataset of linked census records and lynchings to analyze the effects of exposure to county-level lynchings during childhood on the economic and labor outcomes of African American males. The third chapter focuses on elementary students in a Midwestern county and investigates how wintry weather affects the Black-White disparity in unexcused absences.