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Race and Home Ownership from the Civil War to the Present

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  • William J. Collins
  • Robert A. Margo

Abstract

We present estimates of home ownership for African-American and white households from 1870 to 2007. The estimates pertain to a sample of households headed by adult men participating in the labor force but the substantive findings are unchanged if the analysis is extended to all households. Over the entire period African-American households in the sample increased their home ownership rate by 46 percentage points, whereas the rate for white households increased by 20 percentage points. Thus, in the long run, the racial gap declined by 26 percentage points. Remarkably, 25 of the 26 point long-run narrowing occurred between 1870 and 1910. Since 1910, both white and black households have increased their rates of homeownership but the long-run growth in levels has been similar for both groups, and therefore the racial gap measured in percentage points was approximately constant over the past century.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16665
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    1. 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.
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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. Daniel Albuquerque & Tomer Ifergane, 2023. "The Racial Wealth Gap: the Role of Entrepreneurship," Discussion Papers 2310, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    4. 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).
    5. Laurent Gobillon & Matthieu Solignac, 2014. "Homeownership of immigrants in France," ERSA conference papers ersa14p558, European Regional Science Association.
    6. Sebastian Kohl, 2016. "Urban History Matters: Explaining the German--American Homeownership Gap," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 694-713, September.
    7. 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).
    8. Leah Boustan & Robert A. Margo, 2014. "Racial Differences in Health in Long-Run Perspective," Working Papers 2014-1, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    9. William J. Collins & Gregory T. Niemesh, 2024. "Income Gains and the Geography of the US Home Ownership Boom, 1940 to 1960," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic History of American Inequality: New Evidence and Perspectives, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. 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.
    11. 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).
    12. 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.
    13. 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..
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Leah Platt Boustan & Robert A. Margo, 2011. "White Suburbanization and African-American Home Ownership, 1940-1980," NBER Working Papers 16702, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. 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.
    19. Breen, Casey, 2023. "The Longevity Benefits of Homeownership," SocArXiv 7ya3f, Center for Open Science.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. Boustan, Leah P. & Margo, Robert A., 2013. "A silver lining to white flight? White suburbanization and African–American homeownership, 1940–1980," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 71-80.
    23. 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.
    24. 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.
    25. 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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    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Laurent Gobillon & Matthieu Solignac, 2014. "Homeownership of immigrants in France," ERSA conference papers ersa14p558, European Regional Science Association.
    20. 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).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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