Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/62448 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6638
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper uses Social Security longitudinal earnings records matched to Current Population Survey data to examine changes in the relative earnings of Hispanic men during a period of dramatic change in public and private policies toward race and ethnicity characterized by, but not limited to, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Our principle focus is to compare and contrast how lower income Hispanic and African-American men fared during the civil rights era relative to lower-income non-Hispanic whites. Although previous studies have analyzed black economic progress using annual data before and after the Civil Rights Act, this is the first study to do so for Hispanics. We follow a longitudinal sample of individuals who were in the labor market before and after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Following the same individuals holds constant an array of unmeasured variables such as labor force selectivity and schooling quality that may correlate with the post-1964 period; our approach addresses concerns that the results are the product of changes in these variables. Of particular note - we uncover a significant acceleration following the Civil Rights Act in the relative earnings of low-income Hispanic men.
Subjects: 
anti-discrimination legislation
minority economic progress
Mexican Americans
Hispanic
low income
Civil Rights Act
longitudinal administrative records
JEL: 
J48
J71
J78
J15
J18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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