Racial Inequality in France

Yajna Govind, Paolo Santini and Ellora Derenoncourt

No 34013, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study racial inequality in 21st century France. Using parents’ nationality at birth, we overcome the lack of ethno-racial statistics stemming from the country’s “color-blind” approach. We document substantial earnings penalties for racial minorities along the income distribution. Penalties are larger at the median than the top and for Middle-Eastern and North African (MENA) and Sub-Saharan African origin (Black) individuals. We compare racial inequality in France vs. the U.S. by simulating where French minorities would fall in the U.S. distribution. Black and Non-White individuals in France benefit from the country’s lower overall inequality, but experience comparable, occasionally larger, rank gaps.

JEL-codes: D31 J15 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-07
Note: LS PE
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