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Title: Income Rich, Asset Poor: Race, Ethnicity and Wealth Inequality

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2006

Abstract: Sociologists have agonized over this fundamental question: Why do racial and ethnic minority groups lag behind whites on various social indicators? The dominant explanations include adaptations of class-based, institution discrimination, internal colonialism, racial formation and assimilation theories. Each perspective contributes to our understanding of the variability to wealth, status and power. However, few perspectives take on wealth inequality more generally and even fewer take on wealth inequality as it relates to variations within the black population. For those perspectives that focus on racial differences in wealth, the interest is largely on explaining the pathology of black wealth while ignoring the existence of black asset ownership and the determinants thereof. The present study examines the racial and ethnic differentials on the types of assets owned and the levels of each asset owned for blacks and whites over time. The present study also examines the extent to which national origin among blacks makes a difference in terms of the types and levels of assets owned. Specifically, the focus is on several key indicators of income and asset ownership: home ownership, housing values, interest, dividends and rental income, business ownership, and business income. To what extent are black-white differences on these variables attributable to factors other than race and ethnicity? Tobit, logistic and ordinary least squares regression analyses are appropriate methodologies for the present study. The data are drawn from 1970-2000 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Sykes, Lori Latrice

Institution: State University of New York at Albany

Department: Sociology

Advisor: Hayward Derrick Horton

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Publisher Location: Albany, New York

Pages:

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation

Countries:

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