Full Citation
Title: The Evolution of Access to Public Accommodations in the United States
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2022
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Abstract: The economic analysis of racial discrimination in public accommodations is remarkably limited. To study this issue, we construct a national dataset of non discriminatory establishments from the Negro Motorist Green Books, a travel guide published from 1936 to 1966 to aid Black Americans in finding non-discriminatory retail and service establishments. We document patterns in the geographic spread and evolution of Green Book establishments, as well as the correlates of Green Book presence. We find economic and social measures, as well as state laws relating to racial discrimination and anti-discrimination, were correlated with the provision of non-discriminatory services. We then use the Green Book data to test whether market conditions and White consumer discrimination led businesses to bar Black customers prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We use plausibly exogenous variation from White WWII casualties and Black migration patterns to isolate the effect of a change in the racial composition of consumers on the growth of non-discriminatory businesses. We find that the share of non-discriminatory establishments grew faster in locations with larger increases in the share of the Black population, but the magnitudes were small. These results highlight the importance of federal legislation in ending racial discrimination in public accommodations.
Url: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/138/1/37/6695011
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Authors: Cook, Lisa; Jones, Maggie; Logan, Trevon; Rose, David
Periodical (Full): The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Issue: 1
Volume: 138
Pages: 37-102
Data Collections: IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data
Topics: Housing and Segregation, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity
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