There is considerable evidence of discriminatory treatment of immigrants in employment and access to housing, and the author’s research suggests that factors such as height and darkness of skin may influence how immigrants are treated.Immigrants ; Discrimination in employment ; Discrimination in housing

Joni Hersch

English

Research Papers in Economics

18    Spring 2009
Prior  to  the  Immigration  Act  of  1965, 
immigrants to the United States were pri-
marily from northern and western Europe. 
Post-1965 immigrants, however, are more 
often from Asia and Latin America. Most of 
these more recent immigrants have darker 
skin color than white U.S. natives and are 
on average shorter. 
To  some  people,  these  recent  immi-
grants may look “different” or even “illegal.” 
Indeed,  a  1990  U.S.  General  Accounting 
Office study found that 5 percent of employ-
ers “began a practice, as a result of IRCA 
(Immigration Control and Reform Act of 
1986),  not  to  hire  job  applicants  whose 
foreign appearance or accent led them to 
suspect  that  they  might  be  unauthorized 
aliens.”1 There is considerable evidence of 
discriminatory treatment of immigrants in 
employment  and  access  to  housing,  and 
appearance may be a factor that influences 
how immigrants are treated. 
Skin Color and Height Issues 
My recent research considers whether some 
of the most visible aspects of appearance—
particularly  skin  color  and  height—affect 
economic outcomes among new legal immi-
grants  to  the  United  States.2  Using  data 
from the New Immigrant Survey 2003, I 
find strong evidence that gradation of skin 
color and height affect wages. 
 
 
Evidence
The  New  Immigrant  Survey  provides  a 
nationally  representative  sample  of  8,573 
adult respondents admitted to lawful per-
manent residence status in 2003. The data 
are drawn from electronic files compiled by 
the  U.S.  government. The  survey  reports 
extensive	 information	 on	 individual	 char-
acteristics that influence individual pay. In 
addition,  it  provides  interviewer  observa-
tions of skin color on a detailed scale. The 
color scale used by the interviewers shows 
a series of 10 hands with color increasing   
in darkness. 
My  research  shows  that  immigrants 
with  darker  skin  color  have  lower  wages 
than  comparable  immigrants  with  lighter 
skin color, even when a wide array of per-
sonal  and  work-related  characteristics  are 
taken	into	account—for	example,	English	
language proficiency, education, occupation 
before migrating to the United States, and 
family background. The analysis also takes 
into account ethnicity, race, and country of 
origin, which are themselves highly correlat-
ed with skin color. Skin color is not mere-
ly capturing the effects of ethnicity, race, or 
country of birth. Instead, skin color has an 
independent  effect  on  wages.  Immigrants 
with the lightest skin color earn on average 
17  percent  more  than  comparable  immi-
grants with the darkest skin color. 
Skin  color  has  an  independent  effect 
on wages even when current labor market 
factors that may be influenced by discrim-
ination  are  considered.  After  current  job 
characteristics such as occupation, outdoor 
work, job seniority, self-employment, and 
full-time work status are taken into account, 
immigrants with the lightest skin color earn 
on average 11 percent more than compara-
ble immigrants with the darkest skin color. 
I also find that height has an indepen-
dent	effect	on	wages,	with	each	extra	inch	
of height above the U.S. average associated 
with a 2 percent increase in wages. In con-
trast to skin color and height, body weight 
has no effect on wages. 
Implications
Do the results imply that immigrant work-
ers in the United States face discrimination 
based  on  their  skin  color?  Although  dis-
crimination is one possibility, it is necessary 
to	rule	out	other	nondiscriminatory	expla-
nations before drawing this conclusion. 
One	possible	explanation	for	the	skin	
color  effect  in  the  United  States  may  be 
that people were already treated differently 
on the basis of skin color in their originat-
ing country. There is considerable evidence 
of a preference for lighter skin among peo-
ple in India, Asia, Africa, and Central and 
South  America.  Those  who  are  darker   
relative to their own country averages may 
end up with inferior labor market charac-
teristics as a result of discrimination in their 
home countries. 
My  analysis  takes  into  account  char-
acteristics acquired before migration to the 
The Relation between Skin Color and Pay
by Joni Hersch
Immigrant
Experience
Vanderbilt University
iStockphotoCommunities & Banking    19
United States, including education in the 
home country, family background, father’s 
education, and previous occupation in home 
country.	Those	who	experienced	discrimina-
tion or preferential treatment in their home 
country will have characteristics that reflect 
such treatment. However, those character-
istics	do	not	explain	why	immigrants	with	
darker skin color receive lower wages in the 
jobs they hold within the United States. 
Consider  an  immigrant  from  Brazil 
who has light skin relative to other Brazil-
ians. There is wide evidence that he or she 
could	 have	 experienced	 preferential	 treat-
ment when living in Brazil. But the same 
person  could  have  darker  skin  relative  to 
the native U.S. population and is likely to 
earn less than comparable immigrant work-
ers who have lighter skin color. This means 
that discriminatory treatment on the basis 
of skin color is occurring within the U.S. 
labor market and is not just a result of past 
treatment in the originating country. 
Litigation
Although skin color discrimination claims 
still comprise a small share of the 85,000 
charges  filed  annually  with  the  Equal 
Employment  Opportunity  Commission, 
the EEOC reports that allegations of skin 
color discrimination have been rising. Just 
413 cases were reported in 1994, and 1,382 
such charges were filed in 2002.3  In recog-
nition of ongoing concerns about race and 
color discrimination, the EEOC launched 
the  E-RACE  (Eradicating  Racism  and 
Colorism from Employment) Initiative in 
2007. 
My  empirical  research  suggests  that 
observed  opposition  to  immigrants  aris-
es in part from attitudes toward outward 
appearance,  and  shows  that  immigrants 
who have lighter skin color fare better than 
their counterparts who are darker, even after 
accounting for ethnicity, race, and country 
of origin. 
Projected  population  trends  in  the 
United States indicate that the country is 
becoming  less  white.  The  non-Hispanic, 
single-race white population comprised 66 
percent  of  the  total  population  in  2008. 
By 2050, this share is projected to drop to 
46 percent of the population.4 Given that 
trend, the workforce will become increas-
ingly  diverse,  and  color  discrimination 
claims may increase.
Within	the	context	of	such	litigation,	
there will be a debate as to whether observed 
differences in pay reflect labor market dis-
crimination  or  are  reflective  of  legitimate 
productivity differences. My research shows 
higher  pay  for  immigrants  with  lighter 
skin  color  that  cannot  be  accounted  for 
by  differences  in  labor  market  productiv-
ity.  Discrimination  may  underlie  the  pay 
differences.  Employers  should  be  aware   
of  possible  implicit  biases  in  hiring  and   
pay decisions.
Joni Hersch is professor of law and economics 
at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and is 
co-director of the Ph.D. program in law and 
economics. 
Endnotes
U.S.  General  Accounting  Office,  “Immigration 
1 
Reform:  Employer  Sanctions  and  the  Question  of 
Discrimination,” GAO/GGD90-62 (March 1990).
 Joni Hersch, “Profiling the New Immigrant Worker: 
2 
The  Effects  of  Skin  Color  and  Height,”  Journal  of 
Labor Economics 26, no. 2 (April 2008): 345-386.
 See http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-07-03.html.
3 
See http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/
4 
releases/archives/population/012496.html.
The Relation between Skin Color and Pay
Regional Variation: Northeast 
There is regional variation in the 
nationality, race, and ethnicity of 
immigrants. Relative to the rest of 
the United States, the Northeast 
has a smaller share of new legal 
immigrants of Hispanic ethnicity 
and a larger share of new legal im-
migrants who are black or white. 
Also relative to the rest of the na-
tion, the Northeast has a larger 
share  of  immigrants  with  very 
dark skin color (ratings of 9 and 
10 on the scale) as well as a larger 
share with lighter skin color.
Distribution of Immigrants 
by Ethnicity or Race 
Ethnicity 
or race Northeast
Rest of 
the U.S.
Hispanic 24.76 43.28
Asian 29.29 27.76
Black 17.90 7.76
White 24.77 17.79
All other  3.28 3.41
Total 100% 100%
Source:          Author’s calculations from the New Immigrant  
Survey 2003.
0
.05
.10
.15
.20
.25
.30
Distribution of Skin Color 
0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
skin color
Northeast
Rest of the U.S.
Comparing the Northeast and the rest of the U.S.
Source:  Author’s calculations from the New Immigrant Survey 2003. The skin color scale increases in darkness from 
0 to 10, with 0 representing the lightest skin color and 10 the darkest skin color.  The vertical bars report the 
proportion of the sample with each skin color.
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Immigrant experience: the relation between skin color and pay

http://www.bostonfed.org/commdev/c&b/2009/spring/Hersch_immigrant_skin_color.pdf

Immigrant experience: the relation between skin color and pay

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