Racial and Ethnic Inequality and the China Shock
Working Paper 30646
DOI 10.3386/w30646
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Minority workers generally have worse economic outcomes than whites, and are disproportionately impacted by many negative shocks. However, we show that Black-white employment gaps narrowed as a result of China’s WTO accession because Black workers live in areas that are less exposed to imports from China and transition to non-manufacturing employment at higher rates. Hispanic populations, however, are more exposed than whites because of their industry mix and experience larger employment losses for a given level of exposure. The China shock widened Hispanic-white gaps, though this effect was short lived. The lasting negative effects were driven primarily by white workers.