fryer_levitt_ecls_babies.pdf (application/pdf Object)
"On tests of intelligence, Blacks systematically score worse than Whites, whereas Asians
frequently outperform Whites. Some have argued that genetic differences across races
account for the gap. Using a newly available nationally representative data set that
includes a test of mental function for children aged eight to twelve months, we find only
minor racial differences in test outcomes (0.06 standard deviation units in the raw data)
between Blacks and Whites that disappear with the inclusion of a limited set of controls.
The only statistically significant racial difference is that Asian children score slightly
worse than those of other races. To the extent that there are any genetically-driven racial
differences in intelligence, these gaps must either emerge after the age of one, or operate
along dimensions not captured by this early test of mental cognition."