Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Research Institute of Industrial Economics

No 649: Oppositional Identities and the Labor Market

Harminder Battu, McDonald Mwale and Yves Zenou ()
Additional contact information
Harminder Battu: Department o Economics, Postal: University of Aberdeen, Edward Wright Building, Dunbar Street, Old Aberdeen AB24 3QY, UK
McDonald Mwale: Health Economics Research Unit (HERU), Postal: University of Aberdeen, Medical School, Polwarth Building, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
Yves Zenou: The Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Postal: P.O. Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden

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, non-whites 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-codes: A14; J15

37 pages, October 19, 2005

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