The earnings of Arab and Muslim men working in the United States dropped about 10 per cent in the years following the 9/11 attacks, according to a new study.
The drop in wages was most dramatic in areas that reported high rates of hate crimes, according to the study due to be published in the Journal of Human Resources.
The study measured changes in wages of first- and second-generation immigrants, from countries with predominantly Arab or Muslim populations from September 1997 to September 2005. It then compared them to changes in the wages of immigrants with similar skills from other countries.
The average wage was approximately $20 an hour ahead of the attacks in 2001 and dropped by $2 an hour after them, Robert Kaestner, co-author of the study and a University of Illinois at Chicago professor of economics, said yesterday.
That drop persisted through 2004 but showed signs of abating in 2005, he said.
"I was surprised," Mr Kaestner said. "We see an immediate and significant connection between personal prejudice and economic harm."
Looking for explanations, the study found a change in the industries where Arab and Muslim men worked, shifting away from higher-paying industries to those that pay less.
It also found Arab and Muslim men were 20 per cent less likely, after the 9/11 attacks by Islamic extremist hijackers, to move within the state where they lived. That could affect their ability to pursue better paying jobs, Mr Kaestner said.
In areas where the rate of hate crimes was above average, wages dropped approximately 12 to 13 per cent after 9/11, while in areas with lower-than-average rates, the drop was 6 to 7 per cent, Mr Kaestner said.
The study is scheduled to appear in the journal's spring 2007 edition.