Human Capital in the Inner City

49 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2013 Last revised: 29 Oct 2014

Date Written: June 15, 2014

Abstract

This paper quantitatively characterizes the “code of the street” from the sociology literature, using the nationally-representative National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data set to investigate how black young males alter their behavior when living in violent neighborhoods. An astounding 26 percent of black males in the United States report seeing someone shot before turning 12. Conditional on reported exposure to violence, black and white young males are equally likely to engage in violent behavior. Black males’ education and labor market outcomes are much worse when reporting exposure to violence; these gaps persist in estimated models controlling for many patterns of selection.

Keywords: Code of the Street; Interpersonal Violence; Human Capital; Race; Propensity Score Matching; Dynamic Selection Control

JEL Classification: I21, J15, J24, O15, O18, Z13

Suggested Citation

Aliprantis, Dionissi, Human Capital in the Inner City (June 15, 2014). FRB of Cleveland Working Paper No. 13-02r, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2354010

Dionissi Aliprantis (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland ( email )

East 6th & Superior
Cleveland, OH 44101-1387
United States

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