Difference between revisions of "Journal articles on racial disparities"

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This page presents a catalog of the articles relating to race and racial disparities, which have been published in top economics journals over the last ten years or so. The editors of these journals volunteered to take inventories of their journals' publications on race in June 2020 to supplement the AEA's reading list on the history of race and racism. (Each editor used slightly different criteria in developing their list of relevant papers.)
 
This page presents a catalog of the articles relating to race and racial disparities, which have been published in top economics journals over the last ten years or so. The editors of these journals volunteered to take inventories of their journals' publications on race in June 2020 to supplement the AEA's reading list on the history of race and racism. (Each editor used slightly different criteria in developing their list of relevant papers.)
  
[[AEJApplied Papers.docx|American Economic Journal:Applied]] ("articles on racial disparities, racial discrimination, and related policies in the United States")
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American Economic Journal:Applied
  
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy ("papers related to racial injustice, racial disparities, and related policies in the U.S.")
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American Economic Journal: Economic Policy  
  
American Economic Review ("papers for the past 10 years, including papers on the long term effect of slavery in Africa")
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American Economic Review  
  
[https://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/rest The Review of Economics and Statistics] ("papers related to racism")
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[https://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/rest The Review of Economics and Statistics] {{hidden||
{{hidden| |
 
 
“Torn Apart? The Impact of Manufacturing Employment Decline on Black and White Americans” by Eric D. Gould from Review of Economics and Statistics (Just Accepted)
 
“Torn Apart? The Impact of Manufacturing Employment Decline on Black and White Americans” by Eric D. Gould from Review of Economics and Statistics (Just Accepted)
  
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Journal of Economic Perspectives ("papers that touched on racial disparities and racial discrimination" in all past JEP issues, Summer 1987 to Spring 2020)
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Journal of Economic Perspectives {{hidden||
  
Your forthcoming paper with Gary Hoover and Ebonya Washington will of course be an excellent future addition to this list. Three particular JEP symposiums are notable:
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Three particular JEP symposiums are notable:
 +
*Perspectives on Racial Discrimination – Vol. 34, No. 2, Spring 2020
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*Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets – Vol. 12, No. 2, Spring 1998
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*The Economic Status of African-Americans – Vol. 4, No. 4, Fall 1990
  
    Perspectives on Racial Discrimination – Vol. 34, No. 2, Spring 2020
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Sociological Perspectives on Racial Discrimination
    Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets – Vol. 12, No. 2, Spring 1998
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Mario L. Small
    The Economic Status of African-Americans – Vol. 4, No. 4, Fall 1990
+
Devah Pager
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 34, NO. 2, SPRING 2020
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(pp. 49-67)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.34.2.49
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Abstract: As in economics, racial discrimination has long been a focus of research in sociology. Yet the disciplines traditionally have differed in how they approach the topic. While some studies in recent years show signs of cross-disciplinary influence, exposing more economists to sociological perspectives on racial discrimination would benefit both fields. We offer six propositions from the sociology of racial discrimination that we believe economists should note. We argue that independent of taste and statistical discrimination, economists should study institutional discrimination; that institutional discrimination can take at least two forms, organizational and legal; that in both forms the decisions of a contemporary actor to discriminate can be immaterial; that institutional discrimination is a vehicle through which past discrimination has contemporary consequences; that minor forms of everyday interpersonal discrimination can be highly consequential; and that whether actors perceive they have experienced discrimination deserves attention in its own right.
 +
 
 +
Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective
 +
Kevin Lang
 +
Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 34, NO. 2, SPRING 2020
 +
(pp. 68-89)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.34.2.68
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Abstract: We review the empirical literature in economics on discrimination in the labor market and criminal justice system, focusing primarily on discrimination by race. We then discuss theoretical models of taste-based discrimination, particularly models of frictional labor markets and models of statistical discrimination, including recent work on invalid statistical discrimination. We explore and evaluate the evidence for and against these theories. Although there is substantial evidence of the existence of discrimination, little is known about the extent to which disparities are driven by discrimination. Finally, we argue that economists miss the important self-enforcing relationship between disparities and discrimination and the effect of disparities in one domain on discrimination in other domains.
 +
 
 +
Environmental Justice: The Economics of Race, Place, and Pollution
 +
Spencer Banzhaf
 +
Lala Ma
 +
Christopher Timmins
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 33, NO. 1, WINTER 2019
 +
(pp. 185-208)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.33.1.185
 +
The grassroots movement that placed environmental justice issues on the national stage around 1980 was soon followed up by research documenting the correlation between pollution and race and poverty. This work has established inequitable exposure to nuisances as a stylized fact of social science. In this paper, we review the environmental justice literature, especially where it intersects with work by economists. First we consider the literature documenting evidence of disproportionate exposure. We particularly consider the implications of modeling choices about spatial relationships between polluters and residents, and about conditioning variables. Next, we evaluate the theory and evidence for four possible mechanisms that may lie behind the patterns seen: disproportionate siting on the firm side, "coming to the nuisance" on the household side, market-like coordination of the two, and discriminatory politics and/or enforcement. We argue that further research is needed to understand how much weight to give each mechanism. Finally, we discuss some policy options.
 +
 
 +
Diversity in the Economics Profession: A New Attack on an Old Problem
 +
Amanda Bayer
 +
Cecilia Elena Rouse
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 30, NO. 4, FALL 2016
 +
(pp. 221-42)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.30.4.221
 +
The economics profession includes disproportionately few women and members of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups, relative both to the overall population and to other academic disciplines. This underrepresentation within the field of economics is present at the undergraduate level, continues into the ranks of the academy, and is barely improving over time. It likely hampers the discipline, constraining the range of issues addressed and limiting our collective ability to understand familiar issues from new and innovative perspectives. In this paper, we first present data on the numbers of women and underrepresented minority groups in the profession. We then offer an overview of current research on the reasons for the underrepresentation, highlighting evidence that may be less familiar to economists. We argue that implicit attitudes and institutional practices may be contributing to the underrepresentation of women and minorities at all stages of the pipeline, calling for new types of research and initiatives to attack the problem. We then review evidence on how diversity affects productivity and propose remedial interventions as well as findings on effectiveness. We identify several promising practices, programs, and areas for future research.
 +
 
 +
Guess Who's Been Coming to Dinner? Trends in Interracial Marriage over the 20th Century
 +
Roland G. Fryer Jr.
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
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VOL. 21, NO. 2, SPRING 2007
 +
(pp. 71-90)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.21.2.71
 +
This paper studies marriages across black, white, and Asian racial lines. Marrying across racial lines is a rare event, even today. Interracial marriages account for approximately 1 percent of white marriages, 5 percent of black marriages, and 14 percent of Asian marriages. Following a brief history of the regulation of race and romance in America, I analyze interracial marriage using census data from 1880-2000, uncovering a rich set of cross-section and time-series patterns. I investigate the extent to which three different theories of interracial marriage can account for the patterns discovered. After also testing a social exchange theory and a search model, I find the data are most consistent with a Becker-style marriage market model in which objective criteria of a potential spouse, their race, and the social price of intermarriage are central.
 +
 
 +
Affirmative Action and Its Mythology
 +
Roland G. Fryer Jr.
 +
Glenn C. Loury
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 19, NO. 3, SUMMER 2005
 +
(pp. 147-162)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/089533005774357888
 +
For more than three decades, critics and supporters of affirmative action have fought for the moral high ground through ballot initiatives and lawsuits, in state legislatures, and in varied courts of public opinion. The goal of this paper is to show the clarifying power of economic reasoning to dispel some myths and misconceptions in the racial affirmative action debates. We enumerate seven commonly held (but mistaken) views one often encounters in the folklore about affirmative action (affirmative action may involve goals and timelines, but definitely not quotas, e.g.). Simple economic arguments reveal these seven views to be more myth than fact.
 +
 
 +
Minority Groups in the Economics Profession
 +
Susan M. Collins
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 14, NO. 2, SPRING 2000
 +
(pp. 133-148)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.2.133
 +
The primary objective of this paper is to provide information about minorities (blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans) in economics, at various stages in the education pipeline, and in the labor market. Despite sustained increases in the numbers and percentages of minorities earning bachelors degrees and Ph.D.s, the absolute numbers remain very small--only about 36 new Ph.D.s per year, including permanent residents. Minority economists are relatively underrepresented on four-year college faculties and in government employment. The paper also discusses activities by the AEA's committee on minority groups, aimed at increasing minority representation in the profession.
 +
 
 +
Discrimination in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Beyond Market Interactions
 +
Glenn C. Loury
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 12, NO. 2, SPRING 1998
 +
(pp. 117-126)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.2.117
 +
This comment argues that discrimination against blacks remains important, especially in labor markets, but that its extent is modest both by historical standards and in relation to supply-side racial disparities. It contends that the racial skills gap is endogenous, reflecting the effects of historical and ongoing discrimination; and that the moral obligation to reduce disparities in skills between the races is no less than the obligation to fight market discrimination. Finally, it suggests that imperfect information may be a more pervasive and intractable cause of racial discrimination today than is behavior based on agents' purported distaste for associating with blacks.
 +
 
 +
Detecting Discrimination
 +
James J. Heckman
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 12, NO. 2, SPRING 1998
 +
(pp. 101-116)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.2.101
 +
The evidence on discrimination produced from the audit method is examined. Audits survey the average firm and not the marginal firm which determines the level of market discrimination. Taken on its own terms, there is little evidence of labor market discrimination from audit methods. The validity of audit methods is critically dependent on unverified assumptions about equality across race/gender groups of the distributions of unobserved (by audit designers) productivity components acted on by firms and about the way labor markets work. Audits can find discrimination when none exists and can disguise it when it does.
 +
 
 +
What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination?
 +
Kenneth J. Arrow
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 12, NO. 2, SPRING 1998
 +
(pp. 91-100)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.2.91
 +
Racial discrimination pervades every aspect of a society in which it is found. It is found above all in attitudes of both races, but also in social relations, in intermarriage, in residential location, and, frequently, in legal barriers. It is also found in levels of economic accomplishment; that is, income, wages, prices paid, and credit extended. It is natural to suppose that economic analysis can cast light on the economic effects of racial discrimination. But the pervasiveness of the phenomenon must give us pause. Can a phenomenon manifest everywhere in the social world really be understood, even in only one aspect, by the tools of a single discipline? I want to explore here the scope and limits of ordinary economic analysis for understanding racial discrimination even in markets.
 +
 
 +
Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender
 +
William A. Darity
 +
Patrick L. Mason
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 12, NO. 2, SPRING 1998
 +
(pp. 63-90)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.2.63
 +
There is substantial racial and gender disparity in the American economy. As we will demonstrate, discriminatory treatment within the labor market is a major cause of this inequality. Yet, there appear to have been particular periods in which racial minorities, and then women, experienced substantial reductions in economic disparity and discrimination. Some questions remain: Why did the movement toward racial equality stagnate after the mid-1970s? What factors are most responsible for the remaining gender inequality? What is the role of the competitive process in elimination or reproduction of discrimination in employment? How successful has the passage of federal antidiscrimination legislation in the 1960s been in producing an equal opportunity environment where job applicants are now evaluated on their qualifications? To give away the answer at the outset, discrimination by race has diminished somewhat, and discrimination by gender has diminished substantially; neither employment discrimination by race or by gender is close to ending. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent related legislation has purged American society of the most overt forms of discrimination, while discriminatory practices have continued in more covert and subtle forms. Furthermore, racial discrimination is masked and rationalized by widely-held presumptions of black inferiority.
 +
 
 +
Evidence on Discrimination in Mortgage Lending
 +
Helen F. Ladd
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 12, NO. 2, SPRING 1998
 +
(pp. 41-62)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.2.41
 +
Much of the controversy about whether mortgage lenders discriminate against minorities can be explained in terms of the confusion about how to define discrimination. Based on the legal definition, careful studies of loan denial rates, such as that done by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, represent an appropriate method for testing for discrimination by lenders. Based on that study, it is quite clear that lenders discriminate. The fact that minorities have higher default rates on average than whites is irrelevant to the interpretation of the race coefficient in such models. Nonetheless, more research on and discussion about the relationship between the race of the applicant and delinquencies, defaults, and losses would be desirable.
 +
 
 +
Evidence on Discrimination in Consumer Markets
 +
John Yinger
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 12, NO. 2, SPRING 1998
 +
(pp. 23-40)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.2.23
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Economists have contributed to the measurement of racial and ethnic discrimination in consumption and to the identification of its causes, especially in housing markets and car sales. To test the hypothesis that discrimination exists, economists have turned to regression analysis and to audits, a matched-pair survey technique. Economists also have developed audit-based measures of the incidence and severity of discrimination. Audit studies find continuing high levels of discrimination against minorities in the marketing of available housing and in car prices. Audit studies also find that discrimination can be caused both by economic agents' prejudice and by their search for profits.
 +
 
 +
Discovering Diversity in Introductory Economics
 +
Robin L. Bartlett
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 10, NO. 2, SPRING 1996
 +
(pp. 141-153)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.10.2.141
 +
Instructors can begin the process of integrating race and gender issues into introductory economics by reexamining their courses with a new lens of diversity. The content of introductory economics can be expanded by 'adding and stirring' race and gender data from standard statistical sources or from the students themselves. This paper offers some 'add-and-stir' macro- and microeconomic examples. To discover the appropriate mix of these examples and how to present them, this paper also offers ways of getting to know who your students are and how better to teach them with their diverse interests and learning styles.
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 +
Who Benefits from Affirmative Action? The Case of the AEA Summer Minority Program 1986-1990
 +
Michael A. Leeds
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 6, NO. 2, SPRING 1992
 +
(pp. 149-156)
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https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.6.2.149
 +
Since 1974, the American Economic Association Summer Minority Program (AEASMP) has provided minority undergraduates with intensive training in the core areas of economics. From 1986 to 1990, while the program was at Temple University, this consisted of advanced undergraduate instruction in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and mathematics. As a form of affirmative action aimed at increasing the number of minority economists, the AEASMP is subject to many of the controversies surrounding more standard affirmative action programs. Upon becoming managing director of the AEASMP in 1989, I explicitly attempted to alter the admissions policy in favor of students from lesser backgrounds, favoring those from poorer families and coming from less prestigious institutions. Access to the records of all students who applied to the AEASMP while it was at Temple provides a unique chance to analyze the effect of a change in the underlying philosophy of an affirmative action program. Specifically, I examine the impact of the change in philosophy on who was admitted to the AEASMP. Then, using the grades of students admitted to the summer program, I estimate the effect of the change in admissions procedures on the performance of students in the program. Finally, I test whether students in 1989-1990 performed better than students with similar characteristics in 1986-1988, to see whether there was greater "value-added" by the program in its last two years.
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 +
SYMPOSIUM ON THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
 +
Henry J. Aaron
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 4, NO. 4, FALL 1990
 +
(pp. 3-7)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.4.4.3
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The purpose of this symposium is to explore a number of controversial issues that divide economists and remain relevant to current debates on public policy. The central questions explored in these papers concern the economic progress of American blacks: Why did they progress economically when and to the degree that they did? What has been the relative importance of education, migration, family structure, job experience, shifts in aggregate demand, voluntary reductions in discrimination, and government anti-discrimination policies in the economic advance of blacks?
 +
 
 +
The Labor Market Status of Black Americans: 1939-1985
 +
Gerald D. Jaynes
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 4, NO. 4, FALL 1990
 +
(pp. 9-24)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.4.4.9
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Among the empirical changes in the labor market status of black Americans since 1939, three stand out: 1) three decades of rapid progress followed by two decades of relative stagnation in many aggregate measures of relative black earnings and incomes; 2) declining employment of black males; and 3) heightened inequality within the black population. Why has relative black employment fallen when blacks' wages and their access to occupations and to institutions of higher education have improved so much? To what extent may these changes be attributed to changes in discrimination and its consequences; changes and differences in skills; and changes in the relative wages of workers of different skills. Many of these issues remain important open questions. But we can conclude that changes in the economy during the past two decades have had particularly adverse effects on the demand for low-skilled workers. In particular, lower-skilled black males, who are disproportionately among those with the least educational achievements and attainments, appear to be in very low demand and may have responded to this low demand by withdrawing from the regular labor market.
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 +
The Role of Human Capital in Earnings Differences between Black and White Men
 +
June O'Neill
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 4, NO. 4, FALL 1990
 +
(pp. 25-45)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.4.4.25
 +
This article examines the factors underlying the differential in earnings between black men and white men, with a focus on the role of human capital. Since 1940, successive generations of black men entering the labor force have been increasingly more educated relative to white men, both in terms of years of school completed and in the quality of schooling obtained. This convergence in educational differences combined with the migration of blacks out of the South contributed to the narrowing in the racial gap in earnings over the 1940-80 period, particularly in the first half of the period. The discussion focuses on men, rather than on all blacks. The black-white wage gap has remained considerably larger among men than among women, making racial differences among men an issue of particular concern.
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 +
The Impact of Affirmative Action Regulation and Equal Employment Law on Black Employment
 +
Jonathan S. Leonard
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 4, NO. 4, FALL 1990
 +
(pp. 47-63)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.4.4.47
 +
Was affirmative action successful in increasing employment opportunities for blacks? In this paper, affirmative action will refer to the provisions of Lyndon Johnson's Executive Order 11246 in 1965, as amended by Richard Nixon's Executive Order 11375 [3 C.F.R. 169 (1974)]. Under Executive Order 11246, federal contractors agree "not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, nor national origin, and to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin" [3 C.F.R. 169 202(1) (1974)].
 +
 
 +
Family Change among Black Americans: What Do We Know?
 +
David T. Ellwood
 +
Jonathan Crane
 +
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
 +
VOL. 4, NO. 4, FALL 1990
 +
(pp. 65-84)
 +
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.4.4.65
 +
The changes in family structures of black American households over the past three decades have been remarkable. In 1960, 33 percent of black children were not living with two parents. By 1988, the figure had risen to 61 percent. During the same period, the fraction of all black children born to an unmarried mother rose from 23 percent to over 60 percent. This paper examines the patterns of family change, briefly discusses their economic implications, and explores what is known about the economic reasons for those changes.
 +
 
 +
 
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}}

Revision as of 13:02, 25 August 2020

This page presents a catalog of the articles relating to race and racial disparities, which have been published in top economics journals over the last ten years or so. The editors of these journals volunteered to take inventories of their journals' publications on race in June 2020 to supplement the AEA's reading list on the history of race and racism. (Each editor used slightly different criteria in developing their list of relevant papers.)

American Economic Journal:Applied

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

American Economic Review

The Review of Economics and Statistics


Journal of Economic Perspectives