Investigating the Effects of the Model Minority Myth and the Glass Ceiling on the Earnings of Asian-American Men

ChangHwan Kim, University of Kansas
Arthur Sakamoto, University of Texas at Austin

The investigation of labor market discrimination against native born Asian American men is an important case in contemporary racial and ethnic relations. While some scholars have recently argued that this demographic group has achieved approximate labor market parity with white men, our analysis provides detailed empirical evidence that is more directly relevant to prior theoretical discussions of the Model Minority Myth and the Glass Ceiling. Using pooled data from the 2000 Census and the American Community Survey, we specify quantile regression models that estimate the net racial effects at both the lower and the higher ends of the distribution of earnings differentials. At the national level, estimates from quantile regressions provide considerable support for the Model Minority Myth and Glass Ceiling hypotheses but lead to the rejection of the alternative explanation about negative educational selectivity. Low-educated Asian American men earn less than whites by about 8%, while highly-educated Asian American men encounter glass ceiling.