Discrimination across Cohorts

Define cumulative discrimination as the measurement of discriminatory effects over time and across domains. Rather than focusing on the impact of discrimination on an outcome at a point in time (discrimination in wages, discrimination in medical treatment for heart disease, etc.), the study of cumulative discrimination looks at the cumulative effects of single or multiple incidents of discrimination across time and across societal settings. The emphasis is on dynamic and systematic processes. Some of these processes may perpetuate or reinforce discriminatory effects. Other processes may mitigate or offset the effects of discrimination over time.

Let me describe at least three ways to think about how cumulative discrimination might occur. First, one may observe the cumulative impact of discrimination that arises from multiple interactions within a single social domain over time. An example would be a study of whether and how discriminatory impacts might cumulate within the labor market from the initial hiring process, through multiple promotion, job change, and hiring.

Studies of cumulative discrimination can provide a better measure of the impact of discrimination and the extent to which discrimination remains a salient social problem. Indeed, current social science efforts to measure discrimination at a decision-point within a specific domain may seriously understate the impact of discrimination. The primary problem is that measures of discrimination that focus on discrimination at a particular place and point in time may provide only limited information on the dynamic and cumulative nature of discrimination.

www.aeaweb.org/annual_mtg_papers/2005/0107_1015_1102.pdf