Monetary policy and racial differentials in labor market outcomes

Bibliographic Data

ID12836985
AuthorsTsvetomir Petkov (Gettysburg College, corresponding author), Charles L Weise (Gettysburg College)
Year2026
Publication date2026-03-28
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Economic Inequality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1569-1721 • E-ISSN: 1573-8701
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s10888-025-09719-z
OpenAlexW7142370273
LanguageEN
References cited30

This paper examines the empirical relationship between monetary policy and racial and ethnic labor market outcomes. Estimating structural vector autoregressions with external instruments, we find a much larger response of labor market outcome gaps than has been documented previously. These differential outcomes persist for Black workers of both sexes even within the same age group and level of educational attainment, while Hispanic and white responses are similar within such groupings. Estimates based on individual-level data show that distributional differences in demographic characteristics, as well as occupation and industry of employment, account for a large portion of the Hispanic-white unemployment gap response to economic downturns. Most of the response of the Black-white unemployment gap, however, is not explained by differences in demographic observables, occupation, or industry

Differential (mechanical device · Ethnic group · Monetary policy · Race (biology · Racial differences · Unemployment · Vector autoregression · Wage · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research

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Open DOIOpen Access