We link newly digitized personnel records of the U.S. government for 1907–1921 to census data to study the segregation of the civil service by race under President Woodrow Wilson. Using a difference-in-differences design around Wilson’s inauguration, we find that the introduction of employment segregation increased the black-white earnings gap by 3.4–6.9 percentage points. This increasing gap is driven by a reallocation of existing black civil servants to lower-paid positions, lowering their returns to education. Importantly, the negative effects extend beyond Wilson’s presidency. Using census data for 1900–1940, we show that segregation caused a relative decline in the home ownership rate of black civil servants. Moreover, by comparing children of black and white civil servants in adulthood, we provide suggestive evidence that descendants of black civil servants who were exposed to Wilson’s presidency exhibit lower levels of education, earnings, and social mobility. Our combined results thus document significant short- and long-run costs borne by minorities during a unique episode of state-sanctioned discrimination.

中文翻译：

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就业隔离的成本：来自伍德罗·威尔逊领导下的联邦政府的证据*

我们将 1907 年至 1921 年美国政府的新数字化人事记录与人口普查数据联系起来，以研究伍德罗·威尔逊总统领导下的公务员按种族隔离的情况。使用围绕威尔逊就职典礼的差异中差异设计，我们发现就业隔离的引入将黑人与白人的收入差距扩大了 3.4-6.9 个百分点。这种不断扩大的差距是由于现有的黑人公务员被重新分配到低薪职位，降低了他们的教育回报。重要的是，负面影响超出了威尔逊的总统任期。使用 1900-1940 年的人口普查数据，我们表明隔离导致黑人公务员的房屋拥有率相对下降。此外，通过比较成年后的黑人和白人公务员的孩子，我们提供了暗示性的证据，表明接触过威尔逊总统职位的黑人公务员的后代表现出较低的教育水平、收入和社会流动性。因此，我们的综合结果记录了在国家批准的独特歧视事件中少数族裔承担的重大短期和长期成本。