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Title: When Progressives Took Power: The Limited Economic Effects of Municipal Reform in U.S. Cities
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2023
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Abstract: How did the adoption of reform-style government affect socioeconomic inequality in U.S. cities during the Progressive Era? The conventional wisdom describes the reforms of this time as reflecting racist and nativist impulses and primarily benefiting white business owners. However, political science work offers theoretical reasons to expect more nuanced redistributive effects of reform. We study the impact of reform lever-aging deanonymized census records, newly digitized municipal budgets, and reform adoption dates across 455 U.S. cities during 1900-1940. Using a two-way fixed effects design, we document the impact of Progressive municipal government on the relative socioeconomic well-being of black, immigrant, and working-class residents compared to whites, natives, and business elites. We find that inequality increased only modestly in reformed cities, with no significant differences in public spending. Our results challenge the dominant narrative that the reforms of this era produced large increases in socioeconomic inequality.
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Authors: Carreri, Maria; Payson, Julia; Thompson, Daniel M
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Poverty and Welfare
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