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Cited by 94Intergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesSchool Choice and PerformanceHealth disparities and outcomes

Birth Cohort and the Black-White Achievement Gap: The Roles of Access and Health Soon After Birth

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Chay, Kenneth, Guryan, Jonathan, Mazumder, Bhashkar·2009·National Bureau of Economic Research
DOI 10.3386/w15078
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Abstract

One literature documents a significant, black-white gap in average test scores, while another finds a substantial narrowing of the gap during the 1980's, and stagnation in convergence after.We use two data sources -the Long Term Trends NAEP and AFQT scores for the universe of applicants to the U.S. military between 1976 and 1991 -to show: 1) the 1980's convergence is due to relative improvements across successive cohorts of blacks born between 1963 and the early 1970's and not a secular narrowing in the gap over time; and 2) the across-cohort gains were concentrated among blacks in the South.We then demonstrate that the timing and variation across states in the AFQT convergence closely tracks racial convergence in measures of health and hospital access in the years immediately following birth.We show that the AFQT convergence is highly correlated with post-neonatal mortality rates and not with neonatal mortality and low birth weight rates, and that this result cannot be explained by schooling desegregation and changes in family background.We conclude that investments in health through increased access at very early ages have large, long-term effects on achievement, and that the integration of hospitals during the 1960's affected the test performance of black teenagers in the 1980's.

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  • The black-white test score gap shrunk rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s, but progress largely stopped among cohorts born since the early 1970s.

    “while the gap shrunk rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s, progress has largely stopped among cohorts born since the early 1970s (Neal 2006; Chay, Guryan, and Mazumder 2009).”

    From Permanent Income and the Black-White Test Score Gap (2013) · cites this paper as Chay, Guryan, and Mazumder 2009

    The Introduction and Section III (page numbers unavailable) report substantial narrowing in the 1980s and no further convergence for cohorts born from 1973 to 1989. The paper does not support rapid narrowing throughout the 1970s and 1980s: it identifies the 1980s as the period when the overall gap fell significantly, although some age groups began converging earlier. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • In longitudinally consistent data, the black-white test score gap is smaller for children born since 1970 than for those born before 1960, though there was little additional progress for children born between the early 1970s and late 1980s.

    “In longitudinally consistent data, it is smaller for children born since 1970 than for those born before 1960, though there was little additional progress for children born between the early 1970s and late 1980s (Chay, Guryan, and Mazumder 2009).”

    From Permanent Income and the Black-White Test Score Gap (2013) · cites this paper as Chay, Guryan, and Mazumder 2009

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 20

  1. Angrist, Joshua D. (1998). "Estimating the Labor Market Impact of Voluntary Military Service Using Social Security Data on Military Applicants," Econometrica 66(2): 249-288.
  2. Card, David and Alan B. Krueger (1992). "School Quality and Black-White Relative Earnings: A Direct Assessment," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107(1) 151-200.
  3. Card, David and Jesse Rothstein (2007). "Racial Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap," Journal of Public Economics, 91: 2158-2184.
  4. Cook, Michael D., and William N. Evans (2000). "Families or Schools? Explaining the Convergence in White and Black Academic Performance," Journal of Labor Economics, 18(4) 729-754.
  5. Currie, Janet (2009). "Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Development," Journal of Economic Literature 47(1): 87-122.
  6. Cutler, David M. and Ellen Meara (2000). "The Technology of Birth: Is It Worth It?" Forum for Health Economics and Policy: Frontiers in Health Policy Research 3(3): 33-67.
  7. Deaton, Angus (1997). The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  8. Donohue, John J. III, and James Heckman (1991). "Continuous Versus Episodic Change: The Impact of Civil Rights Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks," Journal of Economic Literature, 29(4) 1603-1643.
  9. Grissmer, David, Ann Flannagan and Stephanie Williamson (1998). "Why Did the Black-White Test Score Gap Narrow in the 1970's and 1980's?" in The Black-White Test Score Gap, Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, eds., Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
  10. Hanushek, Eric A. (2001). "Black-White Achievement Differences and Governmental Interventions," American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings of the American Economic Association 91(2): 24-28.
  11. Heckman, James J. and Brook S. Payner (1989). "Determining the Impact of Federal Antidiscrimination Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks: A Study of South Carolina," American Economic Review, 79(1) 138-177.
  12. Heckman, James J. and Pedro Carneiro (2003). "Human Capital Policy," in Inequality in America, Benjamin M. Friedman, ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  13. Hirano, Keisuke, Guido Imbens and Geert Ridder (2003). "Efficient Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Using the Estimated Propensity Score," Econometrica, 71(4): 1161-1189.
  14. Jencks, Christopher and Meredith Phillips (1998). The Black-White Test Score Gap, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
  15. Ludwig, Jens and Douglas Miller (2007). "Does Head Start Improve Children's Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Quarterly Journal of Economics 122(1): 159-208.
  16. Margo, Robert A. (1990). Race and Schooling in the South, 1880-1950. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  17. Mendez, Michelle A. and Linda S. Adair (1999). "Severity and Timing of Stunting in the First Two Years of Life Affect Performance on Cognitive Tests in Late Childhood," Journal of Nutrition 129(8): 1555-1562.
  18. Neal, Derek A. and William R. Johnson (1996). "The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences," Journal of Political Economy 104(5): 869-895.
  19. Neihaus, Mark D., Sean R. Moore, Peter D. Patrick, Lori L. Derr, Breyette Lorntz, Aldo A. Lima and Richard L. Guerrant (2002). "Early Childhood Diarrhea is Associated with Diminished Cognitive Function 4 to 7 Years Later in Children in a Northeast Brazillian Shantytown," American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 66(5): 590-593.
  20. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. (2002). "Inverse Probability Weighted M-Estimators for Sample Selection, Attrition, and Stratification," Portuguese Economic Journal, 1(2) 117-139. Association between black-white differences in cohort AFQT scores and in infant health proxies Post-neonatal mortality rate Neonatal mortality rate Low birth weight rate (1a) (1b) (1c) (2a) (2b) (2c) (3a) (3b) (3c) Lead, 4 years -0.261 -0.154 -0.171 -0.077 -0.156 0.187 -0.205 0.136 0.740 [3.09] [2.73] [2.35] [1.10] [1.74] [3.10] [0.67] [0.35] [3.72] Lead, 3 years -0.303 -0.158 -0.120 -0.113 -0.183 0.134 -0.506 -0.348 0.449 [5.20] [3.05] [2.19] [1.56] [2.77] [2.22] [1.96] [0.94] [2.72] Lead, 2 years -0.299 -0.332 -0.232 -0.169 -0.279 0.050 -0.362 -0.343 0.280 [4.44] [6.02] [3.78] [4.06] [5.02] [0.96] [2.07] [1.44] [2.29] Lead, 1 year 0.028 -0.244 -0.174 -0.098 -0.281 0.025 0.141 0.262 0.319 [0.50] [4.07] [2.42] [2.50] [4.81] [0.52] [0.71] [0.95] [2.19] Contemporary 0.308 -0.189 -0.097 0.069 -0.216 0.046 0.821 1.080 0.322 [4.03] [3.29] [1.34] [0.99] [2.99] [0.66] [3.00] [2.63]

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Authors
Chay, K., Guryan, J., & Mazumder, B.
Affiliations
National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
Venue
National Bureau of Economic Research
Publisher
National Bureau of Economic Research
Published
2009-06
DOI
10.3386/w15078
OpenAlex
W2044639668
Cited by
94
References
2
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 8
Type
report
Language
en
Open access
Locations
National Bureau of Economic Research (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
Keywords
Black-White achievement gap, birth cohort effects, postneonatal mortality, hospital accessibility, health investment, Southern United States, early childhood health, educational attainment

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