Oppositional Identities and the Labor Market

39 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2005

See all articles by Harminder Battu

Harminder Battu

University of Aberdeen - Business School and CELMR

McDonald Mwale

University of Aberdeen - Business School

Yves Zenou

Stockholm University; Monash University - Department of Economics; Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IUI); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: November 2005

Abstract

We develop a model in which non-white individuals are defined with respect to their social environment (family, friends, neighbors) and their attachments to their culture of origin (religion, language), and in which jobs are mainly found through social networks. We find that, depending on how strong peer pressures are, nonwhites choose to adopt oppositional identities since some individuals may identify with the dominant culture and others may reject that culture, even if it implies adverse labor market outcomes.

Keywords: ethnic minorities, identity, social networks, white's norm, multiple equilibria

JEL Classification: A14, J15

Suggested Citation

Battu, Harminder and Mwale, McDonald and Zenou, Yves and Zenou, Yves, Oppositional Identities and the Labor Market (November 2005). IZA Discussion Paper No. 1852, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=866844 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.866844

Harminder Battu

University of Aberdeen - Business School and CELMR ( email )

Edward Wright Building
Dunbar Street
Old Aberdeen AB24 3QY
+44 12 2427 2718 (Phone)

McDonald Mwale

University of Aberdeen - Business School ( email )

Edward Wright Building
Dunbar Street
Old Aberdeen AB24 3QY, Scotland AB24 3QY
United Kingdom

Yves Zenou (Contact Author)

Monash University - Department of Economics ( email )

Australia

Stockholm University ( email )

Universitetsvägen 10
Stockholm, Stockholm SE-106 91
Sweden

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IUI) ( email )

P.O. Box 5501
S-114 85 Stockholm
Sweden

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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