Endogenous Race in Brazil: Affirmative Action and the Construction of Racial Identity among Young Adults |
Working Paper
2010-01-10
Andrew M. Francis, Professor of Economics
Emory University
Maria Tannuri-Pianto, Professor of Economics
University of Brasilia
Brazil is not only characterized by racial diversity but also by socioeconomic inequality. This complexity, plus the recent adoption of racial quotas by a handful of universities, makes Brazil an ideal place to study the construction of racial identity. In this paper, we examine applicants and students of the University of Brasilia, which established racial quotas in July 2004 reserving 20% of available admissions slots for students who self-identified as black. Using admissions data as well as a student survey conducted by the authors, we explore the determinants of racial identity, including socioeconomic status, parents’ race, academic performance, and quotas in admissions. We find that, holding skin tone constant, socioeconomic status and academic performance vary inversely with black identity. The evidence suggests that young adults in mixed race families are more likely to identify with their mother’s race than their father’s, and that this pattern relates to gender and father’s absence during childhood. We also find that quotas in university admissions increased the likelihood that applicants and students self-identified as non-white, and that this phenomenon was attributable, in part, to actual change in racial identity.
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Tags: Andrew Francis, Andrew M. Francis, Maria Tannuri-Pianto, University of Brasilia