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The Labor Market Impact of State-Level Anti-Discrimination Laws, 1940–1960

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  • William J. Collins

Abstract

By the time Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 98% of non-southern blacks (40% of all blacks) already resided in states with “fair employment†laws prohibiting labor market discrimination. Using census data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, the author assesses the impact of fair employment legislation on black workers' relative income, unemployment, labor force participation, migration, and occupational and industrial distributions. In general, the fair employment laws adopted in the 1940s appear to have had larger effects than those adopted in the 1950s, and the laws had considerably smaller effects on the labor market outcomes of black men than on those of black women.

Suggested Citation

  • William J. Collins, 2003. "The Labor Market Impact of State-Level Anti-Discrimination Laws, 1940–1960," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(2), pages 244-272, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:56:y:2003:i:2:p:244-272
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390305600203
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Maloney, Thomas N., 1994. "Wage Compression and Wage Inequality Between Black and White Males in the United States, 1940–1960," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 358-381, June.
    2. Collins, William J., 2000. "African-American Economic Mobility in the 1940s: A Portrait from the Palmer Survey," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(3), pages 756-781, September.
    3. Lundberg, Shelly J & Startz, Richard, 1983. "Private Discrimination and Social Intervention in Competitive Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 340-347, June.
    4. Sundstrom, William A., 1994. "The Color Line: Racial Norms and Discrimination in Urban Labor Markets, 1910–1950," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 382-396, June.
    5. William J. Collins, 2001. "Race, Roosevelt, and Wartime Production: Fair Employment in World War II Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 272-286, March.
    6. Glenn C. Loury, 1998. "Discrimination in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Beyond Market Interactions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 117-126, Spring.
    7. David Card, 1992. "Do Minimum Wages Reduce Employment? A Case Study of California, 1987–89," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(1), pages 38-54, October.
    8. Goldin, Claudia, 1992. "Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195072709.
    9. Donohue, John J, III & Heckman, James, 1991. "Continuous versus Episodic Change: The Impact of Civil Rights Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 1603-1643, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert A. Margo, 2004. "Ideology, Government, and the American Dilemma," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0411, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics, revised May 2004.
    2. Collins, William J., 2021. "The Great Migration of Black Americans from the US South: A guide and interpretation," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Bruce G. Carruthers & Naomi R. Lamoreaux, 2016. "Regulatory Races: The Effects of Jurisdictional Competition on Regulatory Standards," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 52-97, March.
    4. Leah Platt Boustan & William J. Collins, 2014. "The Origin and Persistence of Black-White Differences in Women's Labor Force Participation," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 205-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Leah Platt Boustan & William J. Collins, 2013. "The Origin and Persistence of Black-White Differences in Women’s Labor Force Participation," Working Papers 2013-6, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    6. David Christafore & J. Sebastian Leguizamon, 2013. "Revisiting Evidence of Labor Market Discrimination against Homosexuals and the Effects of Anti-Discriminatory Laws," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 43(2,3), pages 213-238, Winter.
    7. Boring, Anne & Philippe, Arnaud, 2021. "Reducing discrimination in the field: Evidence from an awareness raising intervention targeting gender biases in student evaluations of teaching," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    8. Bailey, Martha J. & Collins, William J., 2006. "The Wage Gains of African-American Women in the 1940s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 737-777, September.
    9. Aneja, Abhay & Xu, Guo, 2020. "The Costs of Employment Segregation: Evidence from the Federal Government under Wilson," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt7sw871kr, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    10. William J. Collins & Michael Q. Moody, 2017. "Racial Differences in American Women's Labor Market Outcomes: A Long-Run View," NBER Working Papers 23397, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Collins, William J., 2004. "The housing market impact of state-level anti-discrimination laws, 1960-1970," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 534-564, May.

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