Long-run Impacts of School Desegregation & School Quality on Adult Attainments

Abstract

This paper investigates the long-run impacts of court-ordered school desegregation on an array of adult socioeconomic and health outcomes. The study analyzes the life trajectories of children born between 1945 and 1968, and followed through 2013, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The PSID data are linked with multiple data sources that describe the neighborhood attributes, school quality resources, and coincident policies that prevailed at the time these children were growing up. I exploit quasi-random variation in the timing of initial court orders, which generated differences in the timing and scope of the implementation of desegregation plans during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Event study analyses as well as 2SLS and sibling-difference estimates indicate that school desegregation and the accompanied increases in school quality resulted in significant improvements in adult attainments for blacks. I find that, for blacks, school desegregation significantly increased both educational and occupational attainments, college quality and adult earnings, reduced the probability of incarceration, and improved adult health status; desegregation had no effects on whites across each of these outcomes. The results suggest that the mechanisms through which school desegregation led to beneficial adult attainment outcomes for blacks include improvement in access to school resources reflected in reductions in class size and increases in per-pupil spending.

An Empirical Analysis of Racial Segregation in Higher Education

“…It also includes work on the effects of K-12 desegregation policy on segregation levels (Reber 2005), school district finances (Reber 2011), housing prices (Boustan 2012), residential and school choices (Baum-Snow and Lutz 2011), educational outcomes (Guryan 2004;Reber 2010;Johnson 2011), economic outcomes (Johnson 2011), 4 health (Johnson 2010(Johnson , 2011, and crime (Weiner, Lutz, and Ludwig 2009;Johnson 2011). 1 Clotfelter, Vigdor, and Ladd (2006);Lutz (2011);and Reardon et al (2012) have studied whether there is "resegregation" now that desegregation plans are being lifted.…”

“…Although little is known about racial segregation at the college level, research on K-12 schools has found negative effects of racial segregation on students and has found positive effects of desegregation plans (Guryan 2004;Johnson 2010Johnson , 2011Reber 2010;Weiner, Lutz, and Ludwig 2009).…”

Every Breath You Take—Every Dollar You’ll Make: The Long-Term Consequences of the Clean Air Act of 1970

“…An individual's earnings are a function of his health stock h and his education level e, where education also depends upon the health stock. Formally, y = y(e, h) = y(e(h(I 1 , I 2 )), h(I 1 , I 2 )), where y represents earnings 7 The restricted version of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is the best currently available dataset that gives information on location and date of birth linked to long-run earnings (Johnson and Schoeni, 2007;Hoynes, Schanzenbach, and Almond, 2012;Johnson, 2011).…”

The long run health returns to college quality

“…MacInnis (2009) finds that primary and secondary school quality significantly increases cognitive functioning in old age. Johnson (2010) demonstrates that the increases in school quality following school desegregation improved adult self-reported health status for blacks.…”