What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination?

Racial discrimination pervades every aspect of a society in which it is found. It is found above all in attitudes of both races, but also in social relations, in intermarriage, in residential location, and, frequently, in legal barriers. It is also found in levels of economic accomplishment; that is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of economic perspectives 1998-04, Vol.12 (2), p.91-100
Main Author: Arrow, Kenneth J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic analysis
Economic discrimination
Economic theory
Economics
Employment
Employment discrimination
Housing
Labor markets
Labor unions
Liberalism
Market
Morality
Prices
Racial discrimination
Segregation
Social discrimination
Social interaction
Social networks
Social relations
Society
Suppliers
Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets
Values
Wages
World War II
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Summary:Racial discrimination pervades every aspect of a society in which it is found. It is found above all in attitudes of both races, but also in social relations, in intermarriage, in residential location, and, frequently, in legal barriers. It is also found in levels of economic accomplishment; that is, income, wages, prices paid, and credit extended. It is natural to suppose that economic analysis can cast light on the economic effects of racial discrimination. But the pervasiveness of the phenomenon must give us pause. Can a phenomenon manifest everywhere in the social world really be understood, even in only one aspect, by the tools of a single discipline? I want to explore here the scope and limits of ordinary economic analysis for understanding racial discrimination even in markets.
ISSN:0895-3309
1944-7965
DOI:10.1257/jep.12.2.91