The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names

In the 1960's, Blacks and Whites chose relatively similar first names for their children. Over a short period of time in the early 1970's, that pattern changed dramatically with most Blacks (particularly those living in racially isolated neighborhoods) adopting increasingly distinctive names, but a subset of Blacks actually moving toward more assimilating names. The patterns in the data appear most consistent with a model in which the rise of the Black Power movement influenced how Blacks perceived their identities. Among Blacks born in the last two decades, names provide a strong signal of socio-economic status, which was not previously the case. We find, however, no negative causal impact of having a distinctively Black name on life outcomes. Although that result is seemingly in conflict with previous audit studies involving resumes, we argue that the two sets of findings can be reconciled.

Testing for Racial Differences in the Mental Ability of Young Children

On tests of intelligence, Blacks systematically score worse than Whites, whereas Asians frequently outperform Whites. Some have argued that genetic differences across races account for the gap. Using a newly available nationally representative data set that includes a test of mental function for children aged eight to twelve months, we find only minor racial differences in test outcomes (0.06 standard deviation units in the raw data) between Blacks and Whites that disappear with the inclusion of a limited set of controls. The only statistically significant racial difference is that Asian children score slightly worse than those of other races. To the extent that there are any genetically-driven racial differences in intelligence, these gaps must either emerge after the age of one, or operate along dimensions not captured by this early test of mental cognition.

Hatred and Profits: Getting Under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan reached its heyday in the mid-1920s, claiming millions of members. In this paper, we analyze the 1920s Klan, those who joined it, and the social and political impact that it had. We utilize a wide range of newly discovered data sources including information from Klan membership roles, applications, robe-order forms, an internal audit of the Klan by Ernst and Ernst, and a census that the Klan conducted after an internal scandal. Combining these sources with data from the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Censuses, we find that individuals who joined the Klan were better educated and more likely to hold professional jobs than the typical American. Surprisingly, we find few tangible social or political impacts of the Klan. There is little evidence that the Klan had an effect on black or foreign born residential mobility, or on lynching patterns. Historians have argued that the Klan was successful in getting candidates they favored elected. Statistical analysis, however, suggests that any direct impact of the Klan was likely to be small. Furthermore, those who were elected had little discernible effect on legislation passed. Rather than a terrorist organization, the 1920s Klan is best described as a social organization built through a wildly successful pyramid scheme fueled by an army of highly-incentivized sales agents selling hatred, religious intolerance, and fraternity in a time and place where there was tremendous demand.

Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School

In previous research, a substantial gap in test scores between White and Black students persists, even after controlling for a wide range of observable characteristics. Using a newly available data set (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study), we demonstrate that in stark contrast to earlier studies, the Black-White test score gap among incoming kindergartners disappears when we control for a small number of covariates. Over the first two years of school, however, Blacks lose substantial ground relative to other races. There is suggestive evidence that differences in school quality may be an important part of the explanation. None of the other hypotheses we test to explain why Blacks are losing ground receive any empirical backing. The difference between our findings and previous research is consistent with real gains made by recent cohorts of Blacks, although other explanations are also possible.

The Plight of Mixed Race Adolescents

Over the past 40 years, the fraction of mixed race black-white births has increased nearly nine-fold. There is very little empirical evidence on how these children fare relative to their single-race counterparts. This paper describes basic facts about the behaviors and outcomes of black-white mixed race individuals. As one might expect, on a host of background and achievement characteristics as well as adult outcomes, mixed race individuals fall in between whites and blacks. When it comes to engaging in risky and anti-social adolescent behavior, however, mixed race adolescents are stark outliers compared to both blacks and whites. We argue that these behavioral patterns are most consistent with a two-sector Roy model, in which mixed race adolescents – not having a predetermined peer group – engage in more risky behaviors to be accepted.mixed race; biracial; black white race; adolescent behavior

Where My Books Go: Choice and Place in Digital Reading

Digital reading is a topic of rising interest in digital libraries, particularly in terms of optimizing the reading experience. However, there is relatively little data on the patterns of digital reading, including issues of where and what users read, and how they organize, plan and conduct their reading sessions. This paper reports the first data on mobile reading, combining insights from three different studies of users, including diary studies, interviews and ethnomethodological work. The data reveals that reading often depends on highly developed and rehearsed practices, especially when the reading is related to study or research. From this, we are able to identify a number of opportunities for further digital library research to better support the needs of users

An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Gap in Mathematics

We document and analyze the emergence of a substantial gender gap in mathematics in the early years of schooling using a large, recent, and nationally representative panel of children in the United States. There are no mean differences between boys and girls upon entry to school, but girls lose more than two-tenths of a standard deviation relative to boys over the first six years of school. The ground lost by girls relative to boys is roughly half as large as the black-white test score gap that appears over these same ages. We document the presence of this gender math gap across every strata of society. We explore a wide range of possible explanations in the U.S. data, including less investment by girls in math, low parental expectations, and biased tests, but find little support for any of these theories. Moving to cross-country comparisons, we find that earlier results linking the gender gap in math to measures of gender equality are sensitive to the inclusion of Muslim countries, where in spite of women’s low status, there is little or no gender gap in math.

Electrostatics of ions inside the nanopores and trans-membrane channels

A model of a finite cylindrical ion channel through a phospholipid membrane of width $L$ separating two electrolyte reservoirs is studied. Analytical solution of the Poisson equation is obtained for an arbitrary distribution of ions inside the trans-membrane pore. The solution is asymptotically exact in the limit of large ionic strength of electrolyte on the two sides of membrane. However, even for physiological concentrations of electrolyte, the electrostatic barrier sizes found using the theory are in excellent agreement with the numerical solution of the Poisson equation. The analytical solution is used to calculate the electrostatic potential energy profiles for pores containing charged protein residues. Availability of a semi-exact interionic potential should greatly facilitate the study of ionic transport through nanopores and ion channels

Thermal Equilibrium as an Initial State for Quantum Computation by NMR

We present a method of using a nuclear magnetic resonance computer to solve the Deutsch-Jozsa problem in which: (1) the number of molecules in the NMR sample is irrelevant to the number of qubits available to an NMR quantum computer, and (2) the initial state is chosen to be the state of thermal equilibrium, thereby avoiding the preparation of pseudopure states and the resulting exponential loss of signal as the number of qubits increases. The algorithm is described along with its experimental implementation using four active qubits. As expected, measured spectra demonstrate a clear distinction between constant and balanced functions.Comment: including 4 figure