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Racial Wealth Disparities: Is the Gap Closing?

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Author Info
Maury Gittleman
Edward N. Wolff

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Abstract

A vast literature in economics has examined the economic progress of African Americans during this century. Most of these studies have focused on income--or on even narrower measures of economic well-being, such as earnings--to assess the extent to which any gains made relative to other racial groups can be attributed to such factors as declining racial discrimination, affirmative action policies, changes in industrial composition, or a narrowing gap between the educational levels of African Americans and the rest of the population. However, studies of earnings and income, while important for assessing the extent to which labor market discrimination exists and the ability of African Americans to move closer to whites in terms of acquiring the skills and connections that are currently rewarded by the markets, provide an incomplete picture. This paper therefore explores how African Americans have fared in terms of wealth, a less well-known factor and an important measure of economic well-being.

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Paper provided by Levy Economics Institute, The in its series Economics Working Paper Archive with number 311.

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Date of creation: Aug 2000
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Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:311

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References listed on IDEAS
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. Neuman, Shoshana & Silber, Jacques, 1994. "The econometrics of labor market segregation and discrimination," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 1-4, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Juster, F. Thomas & Smith, James P. & Stafford, Frank, 1999. "The measurement and structure of household wealth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 253-275, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Ngina S. Chiteji & Frank P. Stafford, 1999. "Portfolio Choices of Parents and Their Children as Young Adults: Asset Accumulation by African-American Families," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 377-380, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Munnell, Alicia H. & Geoffrey M. B. Tootell & Lynn E. Browne & James McEneaney, 1996. "Mortgage Lending in Boston: Interpreting HMDA Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 25-53, March.
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  7. Long, James E & Caudill, Steven B, 1992. "Racial Differences in Homeownership and Housing Wealth, 1970-1986," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(1), pages 83-100, January.
  8. 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)
  9. Menchik, Paul L & Jianakoplos, Nancy Ammon, 1997. "Black-White Wealth Inequality: Is Inheritance the Reason?," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 428-42, April.
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  11. Nancy Jianakoplos & Paul Menchik & Owen Irvine, 1989. "Using Panel Data to Assess the Bias in Cross-sectional Inferences of Life-Cycle Changes in the Level and Composition of Household Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Saving, Investment, and Wealth, pages 553-644 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  12. David G. Blanchflower & Phillip B. Levine & David J. Zimmerman, 1998. "Discrimination in the Small Business Credit Market," NBER Working Papers 6840, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Smith, James P & Welch, Finis R, 1989. "Black Economic Progress after Myrdal," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 519-64, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Huggett, Mark & Ventura, Gustavo, 2000. "Understanding why high income households save more than low income households," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 361-397, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Fairlie, Robert W, 1999. "The Absence of the African-American Owned Business: An Analysis of the Dynamics of Self-Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 80-108, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. René Morissette & Xuelin Zhang & Marie Drolet, 2003. "The Evolution of Wealth Inequality in Canada: 1984-1999," Economics Working Paper Archive 396, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ronald L. Straight, 2002. "Wealth: Asset-Accumulation Differences by Race–SCF Data, 1995 and 1998," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 330-334, May. [Downloadable!]
  3. 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:
  4. Deborah Cobb-Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2006. "The Wealth of Mexican Americans," CEPR Discussion Papers 519, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Robert Fairlie & Alicia Robb, 2005. "Why Are Black-Owned Businesses Less Successful than White-Owned Businesses? The Role of Families, Inheritances, and Business Human Capital," Working Papers 05-06, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
  6. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2006. "The Portfolio Choices of Hispanic Couples," IZA Discussion Papers 1948, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. 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:
  8. Fairlie, Robert W. & Robb, Alicia M., 2004. "Why Are Black-Owned Businesses Less Successful than White-Owned Businesses? The Role of Families, Inheritances, and Business Human Capital," IZA Discussion Papers 1292, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  9. Asena Caner, 2003. "Savings of Entrepreneurs," Economics Working Paper Archive 390, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  10. Morissette, René & Zhang, Xuelin & Drolet, Marie, 2002. "The Evolution of Wealth Inequality in Canada, 1984-1999," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2002187e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. [Downloadable!]
  11. Rania Antonopoulos & Maria Sagrario Floro, 2005. "Asset Ownership along Gender Lines: Evidence from Thailand," Economics Working Paper Archive wp418, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  12. Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, . "Asset Poverty in The United States: Its Persistence in an Expansionary Economy," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive 76, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  13. Michael A. Stegman & Allison Freeman & Jong-Gyu Paik, 2007. "The portfolios and wealth of low-income homeowners and renters: findings from an evaluation of Self-Help Ventures Fund’s Community Advantage Program," Community Development Investment Center Working Paper 2007-02, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
  14. Edward N. Wolff & Ajit Zacharias, 2003. "The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being," Economics Working Paper Archive 372, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  15. Rene Morissette & Xuelin Zhang & Marie Drolet, 2004. "The Evolution of Wealth Inequality in Canada, 1984-1999," Microeconomics 0401004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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