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 ([email protected]) 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.