Author Abstract
This paper documents that disenfranchisement and discrimination discouraged WWII volunteer military participation of African American men, relative to Caucasian men, after the Pearl Harbor attack. The race-gap in volunteer enlistment is most pronounced in regions where discrimination was particularly severe. There is no gap in draft enlistment anywhere. Consistent with the notion that disenfranchisement and discrimination discourage military participation, we document that forcibly interred Japanese Americans were much less likely to serve in the U.S. military than those not interred.
Paper Information
- Full Working Paper Text
- Working Paper Publication Date: July 2020
- HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #21-005
- Faculty Unit(s): Business, Government and International Economy