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Title: Race and the Value of Owner-Occupied Housing, 1940-1990
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2000
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Abstract: This paper begins by documenting racial convergence in the value of owner-occupied housing from 1940 to 1990. Most of this convergence occurred before 1970, as black and white home owners became more similar in terms of household and housing characteristics that were positively correlated with housing values. The post-1970 story is rather less encouraging. During the 1970s, convergence in housing values stalled, and in fact, the "unexplained" portion of the value gap increased. We explore the post-1970 experience from a variety of perspectives. We examine the changing connection between residential segregation and the racial value gap; we document trends in the correlation between income and central-city residence; and we explore the correlation between riots in the 1960s and the racial gap in housing values thereafter. 1 According to one recent study, the black/white ratio of mean household wealth in 1995 was 0.18, compared with a black/white ratio of mean household income of 0.64 (Wolff 1998). See Higgs (1982) and Margo (1984) for historical perspective. 2 By "debt/equity ratio" we mean the ratio of mortgage debt to housing equity. 3 Racial differences in home ownership might also affect differences in well being if home ownership promotes various positive externalities (such as more stable neighborhoods, or better citizenship); see Green and White (1997), and DiPasquale and Glaeser (1999). 4 By "neighborhood quality" we are referring to attributes/behavior of one's neighbors and the characteristics of their housing; local public goods; access to transportation and retail services; and so on. The IPUMS data set that we analyze in this paper includes information on the characteristics of households, and their housing (for some years) but does not include direct information on neighborhood quality.
Url: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.202.274&rep=rep1&type=pdf
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Authors: Collins, William J; Margo, Robert A
Series Title: Vanderbilt University Working Paper Series
Publication Number: 00-W25R
Institution: Vanderbilt University
Pages: 36
Publisher Location: Nashville
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Housing and Segregation, Race and Ethnicity
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