Working Paper: NBER ID: w23691
Authors: Werner Troesken; Randall Walsh
Abstract: This paper develops and tests a simple model to explain the origins of municipal segregation ordinances. Passed by cities between 1909 and 1917, these ordinances prohibited members of the majority racial group on a given city block from selling or renting property to members of another racial group. Our results suggest that prior to these laws cities had created and sustained residential segregation through private norms and vigilante activity. Only when these private arrangements began to break down during the early 1900s did whites start lobbying municipal governments for segregation ordinances.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: H1; K11; K25; N32; N92; R14; R31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| decreased white vigilante activity (I39) | increased demand for state-sponsored segregation laws (J18) |
| increased housing demand in black neighborhoods (R21) | violations of informal segregation norms (P37) |
| increased housing demand in black neighborhoods (R21) | increased demand for state-sponsored segregation laws (J18) |
| decreased white vigilante activity (I39) | passage of segregation ordinances (R28) |
| increased housing demand (R21) | lobbying for formal segregation laws (K16) |
| lower lynching rates (J79) | more likely to pass segregation ordinances (R23) |
| white population growth (J11) | passage of segregation ordinances (R28) |