Working Paper: NBER ID: w16665
Authors: William J. Collins; Robert A. Margo
Abstract: We present estimates of home ownership for African-American and white households from 1870 to 2007. The estimates pertain to a sample of households headed by adult men participating in the labor force but the substantive findings are unchanged if the analysis is extended to all households. Over the entire period African-American households in the sample increased their home ownership rate by 46 percentage points, whereas the rate for white households increased by 20 percentage points. Thus, in the long run, the racial gap declined by 26 percentage points. Remarkably, 25 of the 26 point long-run narrowing occurred between 1870 and 1910. Since 1910, both white and black households have increased their rates of homeownership but the long-run growth in levels has been similar for both groups, and therefore the racial gap measured in percentage points was approximately constant over the past century.
Keywords: home ownership; racial disparities; historical analysis
JEL Codes: N11; N12; R21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| mortgage market reforms post-1940 (G21) | home ownership dynamics (R21) |
| increasing black incomes (O55) | racial ownership gap (R21) |
| black home ownership rate increased by 46 percentage points (R21) | racial gap reduction (I24) |
| white home ownership rate increased by 20 percentage points (R21) | racial gap reduction (I24) |
| systemic barriers (I24) | racial ownership gap (R21) |
| literacy (G53) | black home ownership rates (R21) |
| occupational status (J28) | black home ownership rates (R21) |
| residential segregation (R23) | racial ownership gap (R21) |