The Economics of Discrimination
Writing Assignment 2: DUE OCTOBER 30 by 2 PM PDT on Canvas.
Purpose: In this assignment, you will read the opinions piece, “To Reduce Racial Inequality,
Raise the Minimum Wage.” You will critically analyze the arguments made in the article using
the economic concepts you have learned in class.
Steps:
1. Describe the main arguments of the opinion piece in a short paragraph. How do the
authors argue that the increase in (and expansion of) the minimum wage in 1966 reduced
the racial wage gap?
2. The article briefly touches on the potential for increases in the minimum wage to reduce
the number of low-wage jobs available. Suppose there was a small reduction in the
number of jobs available for low-skill workers after the minimum wage increase in 1966.
What race of workers would have been more likely to be unemployed after the minimum
wage change? First, think through this question under the assumption of preference-based
discrimination against Black workers. Second, think through the question if there was no
preference-based discrimination, but employers used education level as a signal for
expected productivity. You may find the census_educationbyrace.pdf file in the
assignment instructions on Canvas to be helpful in addressing this second question. Be
sure to explain your reasoning.
3. Many of the occupations affected by the minimum wage have little room for mobility
(i.e. it is rare for a low-skill, low-wage employee at a restaurant or hospital to eventually
become a high-skill, high-paid administrator without making a big investment in their
skills such as by going back to school). Assume there is non-zero cost to investing in
skills. How does an increase in the minimum wage affect the return of investing in skills
and moving out of low-skill sectors? How would this impact the long-term effects of a
minimum wage increase? Provide a separate argument for how an increase in the
minimum wage might increase low-skilled workers’ ability to move into high-skill
sectors.
4. Revise your draft.
• Check: does each paragraph express one clear idea? Do you tell the reader what
that idea is in a topic sentence?
• Print your draft and read it out loud to help you identify spots where the language
or ideas could be clearer.
• Ask a friend or relative who is NOT in this class to proofread your essay. If you
have someone read over your essay, please mention who did so at the end of your
essay, e.g. “My friend Carla read my essay.”
• If you read outside of the referenced article to assist you with this assignment,
please cite it using the format of your choice.
Format: You need to write using the APA general guidelines for racial and ethnic identity
(posted as APA_Racial and Ethnic Identity.pdf in the assignment instructions on Canvas). We
encourage you to read the guidelines, but most pertinently to this assignment, do not use
“whites” and “blacks”, but rather White people (or workers, Americans, etc.) or Black people.
You have 600 words to say everything you want to say. Write freely and then revise to express
your ideas clearly and concisely. Note that Turnitin can give us a slightly different page count
than Word or .pdf files, so you should aim for a 650 word count maximum to be safe (we will
take off points if Turnitin has you listed as more than 700 words regardless of what your Word
doc count says! Sorry, there is no way for you to check this or for us to do it beforehand.). There
is no need to include your name, PID, headers, titles – stick to the economics.
You must submit a .pdf or .doc file. We are unable to read any other file extension and you will
receive no points for the assignment.
You do not need to write an introduction or conclusion. Be sure that each paragraph states its
focus in a topic sentence.
You can write in the 1st person, using “I” statements (e.g. “I was surprised by what the test
asked”).
To make it easier for us to read, use Times New Roman 12 point font with double-spaced lines
and 1.25-inch margins.
Grading: The graders will follow the below rubric. There is no partial credit within any of the
subsections.
Step 1: article summary 4 pts: summarize the article
4 pts: how did the minimum wage reduce
the racial wage gap?
Step 2: unemployment effects 2 pts: preference-based: which race is
unemployed?
2 pts: preference-based explanation
2 pts: education: which race is
unemployed?
2 pts: education explanation
Step 3: mobility 2 pts: how is return affected?
2 pts: what is long-term impact?
4 pts: increased mobility argument
Step 4: legibility 2 pts: formatted correctly
2 pts: within 500-700 words (including
headers, footnotes, works cited),
4 pts: turned in before 2PM deadline (if
turned in past 5PM, additional points can
be taken off)
Regrading Policy: The graders will leave detailed comments on your essay explaining where
and why you lost points. You can visit any of the teaching assistants’ office hours to go over
those comments in more detail if you would like further clarification. Teaching assistants are not
available to provide feedback via email.
Alyssa will go over the main points of the essay in lecture on November 3. If you believe you
lost points in error, you can submit a regrade request to her email (aab005@ucsd.edu) until
November 10. In this request you need to state which step you think you deserve more points on
and why. By submitting a request, you agree to wager half of the lost points, such that if she
denies your request she will take those points off your essay.
For example, suppose you receive 6/8 points on Step 2 because your argument explaining your
answer for the preference-based racial wage gap was unclear. If you submit a regrade request for
those 2 lost points, and she rereads your essay and cannot find a good explanation, she will
deduct 1 point so you receive 5/8 points on Step 2.
Given this penalty, you should only submit requests for grades that you are confident were
made in error. We will not tell you via email whether you should submit a request.