Are Affirmative Action and Economic Growth Alternative Paths to Racial Equality?

Abstract

This study uses simple mathematical models to assess the effects of affirmative action and economic growth as for achieving racial equality. The models focus on occupations as they are locally situated, and equality is considered when the racial composition of the group of incumbents in the occupation matches the racial composition of the local labor force. The speed with which equality is achieved is examined in four contrasting situations; the situations combine either high or low proportion black in the local labor force with high or low vacancy rate for the occupation. The strategies are not equally effective in speeding the achievement of equality, nor is one overall strategy more effective than the other in all the contrasting situations. Moreover, the growth strategy, though often less effective than affirmative action in speeding equality, can have the compensating benefit of establishing more jobs that are available to the disadvantaged. This apparent conflict suggests the need for deciding which alternative, achieving equality or providing jobs for the disadvantaged, is the primary goal if there is to be some uniform policy for eradicating the current and future consequences of past racial discrimination.