Full Citation
Title: The Effect of Political Power on Labor Market Inequality: Evidence from the 1965 Voting Rights Act
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2019
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Abstract: A central concern for racial and ethnic minorities is having an equal opportunity to advance group interests via the political process. There remains limited empirical evidence, however, whether democratic policies designed to foster political equality are connected causally to social and economic equality. In this paper, we examine whether and how the expansion of minority voting rights contributes to advances in minorities' economic interests. Specifically, we consider how the political re-enfranchisement of black Americans in the U.S. South, stemming from the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), contributed to improvements in their relative economic status during the 1960s and 1970s. Using spatial and temporal variation arising from the federal enforcement provision of the VRA, we document that counties where voting rights were more strongly protected experienced larger reductions in the black-white wage gap between 1950 and 1980. We then show how the VRA's effect on the relative wages of black Americans operates through two demand-side channels. First, the VRA contributed to the expansion of public employment opportunities for black workers and afforded these workers existing public-sector wage premia. Second, in line with previous work on the importance of civil rights laws, the VRA contributed to and complemented the enforcement of labor market policies such as affirmative action and anti-discrimination laws.
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Authors: Aneja, Abhay P; Avenancio-Leon, Carlos F.
Conference Name: American Economic Association & Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession
Publisher Location: University of California-San Diego
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity
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