| This dissertation seeks to identify the causal effects of firm-level affirmative action policies and court-ordered affirmative action policies. The affirmative action policies chosen also illustrate the difference between "soft" and "hard" affirmative action policies. Study 1 of this dissertation showcases a "soft" affirmative action policy, the NFL's Rooney Rule, which was implemented in an effort to increase minority hiring in executive leadership. Study 2 exams the effect of a "hard" affirmative action policy, court-ordered hiring guidelines in a Louisiana school district. Using data from the 1992 through 2014 seasons, I estimate that a minority candidate is a statistically significant 19-21 percent more likely, depending on the comparison group, to fill an NFL head coaching vacancy in the post-Rooney era than the pre-Rooney era. In Study 2, I use a combination of econometric methods -- difference-in-differences, synthetic control, and propensity score matching -- and find that the court-ordered hiring policy significantly increased black teacher employment share, significantly decreased the student-teacher representation gap, increased the black teacher new hire share, and had no significant effect on student achievement. |
