The Effects of University Affirmative Action Policies on the Human Capital Development of Minority Children: Do Expectations Matter?

Ronald Caldwell ()

No 200812, WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS from University of Kansas, Department of Economics

Abstract: Research shows that minority children enter the labor market with lower levels of acquired skill than their white counterparts. The causes of this skill gap, however, are not entirely understood. This paper analyzes one possible cause: the impact of a perceived lack of future opportunities on the human capital investment decisions of minority children and parents. Using NLSY79 data, I take advantage of changes in affirmative action laws regarding university admissions as a natural experiment. I test for changes in a variety of child and parental human capital investment variables such as time spent studying and parental involvement for children below the age of 15. The results show that time spent studying among 7th and 8th grade blacks in the affected states is significantly lower. The results for parental input variables show a fairly consistent negative trend among black parents of younger children. Additionally, cognitive achievement tests are examined and show significant results among the same age groups.

Keywords: affirmative action; skill gaps; human capital investment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2008-11, Revised 2010-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-hrm and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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