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The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes on Hispanic Identity in the U.S.

Ethnicity
Bias
Discrimination

Hussain Hadah, “The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes on Hispanic Identity in the U.S.,” Under Review

Author
Affiliation
Hussain Hadah

Tulane University

Other details

Presented at the 2023 European Society for Population Economics (ESPE) conference and the 93rd Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting.

Abstract

In this paper, I study the determinants of the choice to identify as Hispanic among those who could—those whose parents, grandparents, or selves were born in a Spanishspeaking country. I find that individuals with Hispanic ancestry are significantly less likely to self-identify as Hispanic if they live in states with high levels of implicit ethnic bias. A one standard deviation increase in bias decreases self-reported Hispanic identity by 7-13 percentage points for first and second-generation Hispanics, respectively. These effects are more prominent among second-generation immigrants whose mothers and fathers were born in a Spanish-speaking country than among children of inter-ethnic parents. These findings have implications for the interpretation of economic research on racial and ethnic gaps in a variety of contexts, including labor market outcomes, redistributive policies, and political representation.

Citation

Hadah, Hussain, The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes on Hispanic Identity in the U.S. (August 22, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4566232 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4566232

@article{hadah2023hispanicidentity,
    Author = {Hadah, Hussain},
    Title = {The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes on Hispanic Identity in the U.S.},
    Year = {2023}}