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The Role of Permanent Income and Demographics in Black/White Differences in Wealth

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Author Info
Joseph G. Altonji () (Economic Growth Center, Yale University)
Ulrich Doraszelski

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Abstract

We explore the extent to which the huge race gap in wealth can be explained with properly constructed income and demographic variables. In some instances we explain the entire wealth gap with income and demographics provided that we estimate the wealth model on a sample of whites. However, we typically explain a much smaller fraction when we estimate the wealth model on a black sample. Using sibling comparisons to control for intergenerational transfers and the effects of adverse history, we find that differences in income and demographics are not likely to account for the lower explanatory power of the black wealth models. Our analysis of growth models of wealth suggests that differences in savings behavior and/or rates of return play an important role.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Economic Growth Center, Yale University in its series Working Papers with number 850.

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Length: 44 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:egc:wpaper:850

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Related research
Keywords: Black-White Wealth Gap; Siblings; Savings;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Martin Browning & Annamaria Lusardi, 1996. "Household Saving: Micro Theories and Micro Facts," Discussion Papers 96-01, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
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  2. J. Gruber & A. Yelowitz, . "Public Health Insurance and Private Savings," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1135-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Glenn R. Hubbard & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, . "Precautionary Saving and Social Insurance," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 3-95, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
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  4. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst, 2003. "The Correlation of Wealth across Generations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(6), pages 1155-1182, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Menchik, Paul L & David, Martin, 1983. "Income Distribution, Lifetime Savings, and Bequests," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 672-90, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Robert Barsky & John Bound & Kerwin Charles & Joseph Lupton, 2001. "Accounting for the Black-White Wealth Gap: A Nonparametric Approach," NBER Working Papers 8466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. James P. Smith, 2004. "Racial and Ethnic Differences in Wealth in the Health and Retirement Study," Labor and Demography 0408011, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Powers, Elizabeth T., 1998. "Does means-testing welfare discourage saving? evidence from a change in AFDC policy in the United States," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 33-53, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Joseph G. Altonji & Rosa L. Matzkin, 2001. "Panel Data Estimators for Nonseparable Models with Endogenous Regressors," NBER Technical Working Papers 0267, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Blau, Francine D & Graham, John W, 1990. "Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 321-39, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Wilhelm, Mark O, 1996. "Bequest Behavior and the Effect of Heirs' Earnings: Testing the Altruistic Model of Bequests," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 874-92, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Menchik, Paul L, 1980. "Primogeniture, Equal Sharing, and the U. S. Distribution of Wealth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 94(2), pages 299-316, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Joseph G. Altonji & Ulrich Doraszelski, 2001. "The Role of Permanent Income and Demographics in Black/White Differences in Wealth," NBER Working Papers 8473, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Joseph G. Altonji & Ulrich Doraszelski & Lewis Segal, 2000. "Black/white differences in wealth," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Q I, pages 38-50. [Downloadable!]
  18. Erik Hurst & James P. Ziliak, 2001. "Welfare Reform and Household Saving," JCPR Working Papers 234, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
  19. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst, 2002. "The Transition To Home Ownership And The Black-White Wealth Gap," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 281-297, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Altonji, Joseph G & Hayashi, Fumio & Kotlikoff, Laurence J, 1997. "Parental Altruism and Inter Vivos Transfers: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(6), pages 1121-66, December.
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Joseph G. Altonji & Ulrich Doraszelski, 2000. "The Role of Permanent Income and Demographics in Black/White Differences in Wealth," Working Papers 850, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Vincent Hildebrand, 2003. "The Wealth and Asset Holdings of U.S.-Born and Foreign-Born Households: Evidence from SIPP Data," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 89, McMaster University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Heathcote, Jonathan & Storesletten, Kjetil & Violante, Giovanni L, 2004. "The Cross-Sectional Implications of Rising Wage Inequality in the United States," CEPR Discussion Papers 4296, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Debasis Bandyopadhyay & Xueli Tang, 2009. "Inequality may retard growth but sometimes progressive redistribution makes it worse," Economics Series 2009_15, Deakin University, Faculty of Business and Law, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance. [Downloadable!]
  5. Zhang, Xuelin, 2003. "Le niveau de richesse des familles d'immigrants au Canada," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2003197f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques. [Downloadable!]
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