Research

 

Working Papers

“A Dynamic Model of Statistical Discrimination Under Affirmative Action: Evidence from the Early Career Evolution of Lawyers,” (May 2009).

Abstract: Despite their relative over-representation in initial hiring, black lawyers in large corporate law firms face significantly lower probabilities of making partner and have two or three times the attrition rates of their white peers after their first year with the firm. Most of the existing theoretical literature in statistical discrimination rely on a static framework focusing on hiring standards and their implications for workers' investment decisions. We introduce a dynamic model incorporating task assignment and promotion in the presence of affirmative action and show that unequal job assignments arising from the employer's self-fulfilling negative stereotypes can lead to lower internal promotion rates for blacks even when the two groups' true productivity levels are equal. The key assumption in our model is that the firm abides by a policy that equalizes the two groups' aggregate hiring rates, yet such a constraint does not exists for task assignments and promotion. This negative impact of affirmative action on promotion is escalated by stronger negative beliefs and smaller population of the stereotyped group. We corroborate the model's predictions using data from the After the JD (AJD) survey, a unique longitudinal study tracking the professional lives of more than 5,000 lawyers during their first ten years after law school (JEL J71, D82).

Works in Progress

“The Voir Dire Process and Jury Selection” (with Jeremy Smith)
“Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market: Theory and Empirics” (with Kevin Lang)