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Race and Home Ownership from the End of the Civil War to the Present

Author

Listed:
  • William J. Collins
  • Robert A. Margo

Abstract

We present new estimates of home ownership for black and white households from 1870 to 2007. Black ownership increased by 46 percentage points, whereas white ownership increased by 20 points. Remarkably, 25 of the 26 point narrowing occurred between 1870 and 1910. Part of this early convergence is accounted for by falling white ownership due to movement out of agriculture, but most is accounted for by post-emancipation gains among blacks. After 1910, white and black households increased ownership, but the racial gap barely changed. We discuss the influence of residential segregation, public policy, and permanent income on the ownership gap.

Suggested Citation

  • William J. Collins & Robert A. Margo, 2011. "Race and Home Ownership from the End of the Civil War to the Present," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 355-359, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:101:y:2011:i:3:p:355-59
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ellora Derenoncourt & Chi Hyun & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick, 2022. "Wealth of two nations: The U.S. racial wealth gap,1860-2020," Working Papers hal-03880971, HAL.
    2. Laurent Gobillon & Matthieu Solignac, 2020. "Homeownership of immigrants in France: selection effects related to international migration flows [A nation of immigrants: assimilation and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 355-396.
    3. Randall Akee & Maggie R. Jones & Sonya R. Porter, 2019. "Race Matters: Income Shares, Income Inequality, and Income Mobility for All U.S. Races," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(3), pages 999-1021, June.
    4. Christian Dippel & Dustin Frye & Bryan Leonard, 2020. "Property Rights without Transfer Rights: A Study of Indian Land Allotment," NBER Working Papers 27479, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ilenia Epifani & Rosella Nicolini, 2017. "Modelling population density over time: how spatial distance matters," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 602-615, April.
    6. Collins, William J., 2021. "The Great Migration of Black Americans from the US South: A guide and interpretation," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Laurent Gobillon & Matthieu Solignac, 2014. "Homeownership of immigrants in France," ERSA conference papers ersa14p558, European Regional Science Association.
    8. Sebastian Kohl, 2016. "Urban History Matters: Explaining the German--American Homeownership Gap," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 694-713, September.
    9. William J. Collins & Robert A. Margo, 2011. "Race and Home Ownership from the Civil War to the Present," NBER Working Papers 16665, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Jung, Yeonha, 2020. "The long reach of cotton in the US South: Tenant farming, mechanization, and low-skill manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    11. Leah Boustan & Robert A. Margo, 2014. "Racial Differences in Health in Long-Run Perspective," Working Papers 2014-1, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    12. Leah Boustan & Robert A. Margo, 2014. "Racial Differences in Health in Long-Run Perspective: A Brief Introduction," NBER Working Papers 20765, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Margo, Robert A., 2016. "Obama, Katrina, and the Persistence of Racial Inequality," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 301-341, June.
    14. John Gathergood & Joerg Weber, 2015. "Is Poor Financial Literacy a Barrier to Home Ownership?," Discussion Papers 2015/16, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    15. Shaun A. Bond & Michael D. Eriksen, 2021. "The role of parents on the home ownership experience of their children: Evidence from the health and retirement study," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(2), pages 433-458, June.
    16. Ellora Derenoncourt & Chi Hyun Kim & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick, 2022. "Wealth of Two Nations: The U.S. Racial Wealth Gap, 1860–2020," Working Papers 296, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    17. Wong, Francis & Kermani, Amir, 2022. "Racial Disparities in Housing Returns," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264099, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Gathergood, John & Weber, Jörg, 2017. "Financial literacy: A barrier to home ownership for the young?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 62-78.
    19. Ellora Derenoncourt & Chi Hyun Kim & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick, 2024. "Changes in the Distribution of Black and White Wealth Since the US Civil War," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_507, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    20. Marianne H Wanamaker, 2017. "150 Years of Economic Progress for African American Men: Measuring Outcomes and Sizing Up Roadblocks," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 211-220, September.
    21. Jacob Faber, 2021. "Contemporary echoes of segregationist policy: Spatial marking and the persistence of inequality," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 1067-1086, April.
    22. Bradley Smith, 2019. "Life, Liberty, and a House in the Suburbs. The Political Construction of the Homeownership Model of Happiness in the United States [Vie, liberté et pavillon : la recherche du bonheur par la proprié," Post-Print hal-04145164, HAL.
    23. Trevor M. Kollmann & Price V. Fishback, 2011. "The New Deal, Race, and Home Ownership in the 1920s and 1930s," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 366-370, May.

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