Mismatch in the Workplace: Exploring Racial Gaps in Labor Market Outcomes under the Mismatch Hypothesis Using the after the JD Study.

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of the mismatch hypothesis in the context of the labor market using a survey on newly licensed US lawyers called the After the JD Study. Using a triple difference approach, I measure the impact of diversity quotas on marginal minority workers’ future salaries, promotion rates, and leaving rates for occupation and job. With middling statistical power, my findings are in line with the mismatch hypothesis in that beneficiaries of the diversity quota policy are made ex-ante worse off. My findings are also in line with recent literature on diminishing racial outcome gaps by skill.

Keywords: Empirical Labor [Income Inequality]

JEL Classification: J3, J4, J7