PIPE* Workshop: Emily Nix, USC Marshall

Choosing Racial Identity in the United States, 1880-1940

Emily Nix's paper documents that many black males experienced a change in racial classification to white in the United States, 1880 - 1940, while changes in racial classification were negligible for other races. Her paper provides a rich set of descriptive evidence on the lives of black men “passing” for white, such as their patterns of marriage, children, the passing of spouses and children, migration and income.

Emily Nix is an Assistant Professor of Finance and Business Economics at USC's Marshall School of Business. Her current research focuses on human capital formation, the economics of crime, and the gender income gap. Professor Nix received her PhD at Yale, and before joining the faculty at USC Marshall worked at University College London. She has also previously served as a consultant to the World Bank and is an external researcher for the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy in Uppsala, Sweden.