Full Citation

Title: The Effects of Withdrawal from the Labor Market on Labor Market Outcomes: A Case Study of Wartime Internment of Japanese Americans

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2004

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Abstract: Between 1942 and 1946, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans in the western part of the United States were evacuated and relocated by the War Relocation Authority. I estimate the effects of this experience on weekly earnings of Japanese-American men in the states of California, Oregon and Washington using the micro-data from the 1940 and 1950 U.S. Censuses. Empirical results demonstrate that the forced withdrawal from the labor market had considerable adverse impacts on earnings of prime-age Japanese men. The loss of earnings was magnified as during this decade other minority groups made tremendous advances in narrowing the wage gap with whites. Between 1940 and 1950, the average weekly earnings for those with 12 years of education grew by 24 percent for Japanese Americans, whereas blacks and other Asians enjoyed increases of 50 percent and 57 percent, respectively. Estimation results also indicate that the effects of the internment were different depending on the individuals education level. For example, the return on skills, measured by extra earnings for an additional year of experience, deteriorated considerably for Japanese Americans with higher education, while there were no noticeable differences among racial/ethnic groups with less than a high school education. Difference-in-differences estimation results indicate that the fall in earnings of Japanese Americans was largely due to changes in industry and occupation choices rather than depreciation of human capital within the same industry or occupation.

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Authors: Yamashita, Takashi

Conference Name: WEAI Annual Conference

Publisher Location: Vancouver, BC

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity

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