The White/Black Educational Gap, Stalled Progress, and the Long Term Consequences of the Emergence of Crack Cocaine Markets / William N. Evans, Craig Garthwaite, Timothy J. Moore.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Evans, William N.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Garthwaite, Craig.

Moore, Timothy J.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w18437.

NBER working paper series no. w18437

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2012.

Summary:

We propose the rise of crack cocaine markets as an explanation for the end to the convergence in black-white educational outcomes beginning in the mid-1980s. After constructing a measure to date the arrival of crack markets in cities and states, we show large increases in murder and incarceration rates after these dates. Black high school graduation rates also decline, and we estimate that crack markets accounts for between 40 and 73 percent of the fall in black male high school graduation rates. We argue that the primary mechanism is reduced educational investments in response to decreased returns to schooling.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2012.