The Plight of Mixed-Race Adolescents

Roland G. Fryer, Lisa Kahn, Steven Levitt and Jörg Spenkuch
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Roland G. Fryer: Harvard University and NBER

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2012, vol. 94, issue 3, 621-634

Abstract: Since 1970, the fraction of mixed-race black-white births has increased nearly ninefold. This paper describes basic facts about the behaviors and outcomes of black-white mixed-race individuals. Unsurprisingly, on a host of background and achievement characteristics, as well as adult outcomes, mixed-race individuals fall in between whites and blacks. When it comes to engaging in risky and antisocial adolescent behavior, however, mixed-race adolescents are stark outliers compared to both blacks and whites. We argue that these behavioral patterns are most consistent with a two-sector Roy model, in which mixed-race adolescents, not having a predetermined peer group, engage in more risky behaviors in order to be accepted. © 2012 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Keywords: mixed-race adolescents; adolescent behavior; peer groups (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Plight of Mixed Race Adolescents (2010)
Working Paper: The Plight of Mixed Race Adolescents (2008)
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