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White Suburbanization And African-American Home Ownership, 1940-1980

Author

Listed:
  • Robert A. Margo

    (Department of Economics, Boston University and NBER)

  • Leah Platt Boustan

    (Department of Economics, UCLA and NBER)

Abstract

Between 1940 and 1980, the rate of homeownership among African-American households increased by close to 40 percentage points. Most of this increase occurred in central cities. We show that rising black homeownership was facilitated by the filtering of the urban housing stock as white households moved to the suburbs, particularly in the slower growing cities of the Northeast and Midwest. Our OLS and IV estimates imply that up to one half of the national increase in black homeownership over the period can be attributed to white suburbanization.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert A. Margo & Leah Platt Boustan, 2011. "White Suburbanization And African-American Home Ownership, 1940-1980," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2011-024, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bos:wpaper:wp2011-024
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel K. Fetter, 2014. "The Twentieth-Century Increase in U.S. Home Ownership: Facts and Hypotheses," NBER Chapters, in: Housing and Mortgage Markets in Historical Perspective, pages 329-350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • N92 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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