In this paper, we present updated measures of racial disparities in wealth using the most recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), augmented by household-level estimates of defined benefit (DB) pension wealth developed by Sabelhaus and Volz (2020). Including this important asset,...

The racial wealth gap is the largest of the economic disparities between Black and white Americans, with a white-to-Black per capita wealth ratio of 6 to 1. It is also among the most persistent. In this paper, we construct the first continuous series on white-to-Black per capita wealth ratios...

The racial wealth gap is the largest of the economic disparities between Black and white Americans, with a white-to-Black per capita wealth ratio of 6 to 1. It is also among the most persistent. In this paper, we construct the first continuous series on white-to-Black per capita wealth ratios...

We investigate how the racial composition of entrepreneurs affects racial differences in labor market outcomes of workers. We create a novel data set that identifies the race of firm owners in Brazil and link it with matched employer-employee data that contains information on the universe of...

By the time Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 98 percent of non-southern blacks (40 percent of all blacks) were already covered by state-level 'fair employment' laws which prohibited labor market discrimination. This paper assesses the impact of fair employment legislation on black...

Using data from the 1976 and 1978 National Longitudinal. Surveys of young men and young women, this study examines racial differences in the magnitude and composition of wealth and the reasons for them. On average, young black families hold 18 percent of the wealth of young white families, and...

This paper estimates a quasi-structural birthweight production function using data on counties for the years 1975-1984. The analysis focuses on the effects of first trimester initiation of prenatal care, controlling for use of abortion services, cigarette smoking, birth order and income. Fixed...

This paper documents that racial differences in credit distribution during a general mortgage credit expansion can lead to unintended negative consequences on crime. Exploiting a federal mortgage market deregulation, we find a significant increase in mortgage approval to white borrowers, while...

We describe how racial and ethnic disparities among prime-aged men have evolved over the last 50 years. We examine several outcomes including annual earnings, employment, measures of income, and home ownership status using data from the March CPS, the Census, and the ACS. Both Blacks and...

We use survey data to document a strong heterogeneity in stated degrees of worry about environmental problems across racial groups. Minorities are significantly more worried about air and water pollution than their white counterparts, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors and...

This paper measures the housing market impact of state-level anti-discrimination laws in the 1960s using household-level and census-tract data. State-level fair-housing' laws attempted to bar discrimination on the basis of race, religion, and national origin in the sale, rental, and financing of...

We use the first wave of the Health and Retirement Survey to study the effect of health on the labor force activity of Black and White men and women in their 50s. The evidence we present confirms the notion that health is an extremely important determinant of early labor force exit. Our...

Brazil still has a long way to go in facing its deep social problems. In order to offer a new perspective on Brazilian inequality, this paper proposes to use the Racial Balance Index to reveal where the greatest and worst advances in the direction of racial equity lie. With this index it is...

This article examines how workers respond to changes in the racial composition of their workplaces. An analysis of the job histories of new hires into multiple workgroups within a single firm reveals path dependence in the effects of group composition on turnover. Exit rates are inversely...

This paper seeks to disentangle the impactof residential segregation from that of employment discrimination in determining black employment share. The major finding is that distance of a workplace from the main ghetto is one of the strongest and most significant determinants of both changes over...

Historians of U.S. race relations typically portray southern whites as reluctant to recognize or act favorably upon complexion-based differences within the African American community. Historians contend that mixed-race African Americans (mulattoes) received few advantages as a result of their...

In this paper I analyze how young black and white unemployed jobseekers use various methods of search, and the employment outcomes which result from their use.The focus is on distinguishing informal search methods (i.e.,friends and relatives or direct application without referral) from more...

This paper aims at an improved understanding of the relationship between monetary policy and racial inequality. We investigate the distributional effects of monetary policy in a unified framework, linking monetary policy shocks both to earnings and wealth differentials between black and white...

Why did the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement gain unprecedented momentum in the midst of a pandemic? In this paper, we use county-day-level variation in the timing and magnitude of exposure to COVID-19 to causally identify its effect on protests. Using super spreader events as a source of...

Test-score data show that both low-income and racial-minority children score lower, on average, on states’ elementary-school accountability tests compared with higher-income children or white children. While different levels of scholastic achievement depend on a host of influences, such...

All data sources indicate that black-white skill gaps diminished over most of the 20th century, but black-white skill gaps as measured by test scores among youth and educational attainment among young adults have remained constant or increased in absolute value since the late 1980s. I examine...

During the period 2005 to 2020, Black borrowers with mortgages insured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac paid interest rates that were almost 50 basis points higher than those paid by non-Hispanic white borrowers. We show that the main reason is that non-Hispanic white borrowers are much more likely...

The rate at which racial gaps in pre-collegiate academic achievement can plausibly be expected to erode is a matter of great interest and much uncertainty. In her opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger, Supreme Court Justice O'Connor took a firm stand: "We expect that 25 years from now, the use of...

Between 1940 and 1970, more than 4 million African Americans moved from the South to the North of the United States, during the Second Great Migration. This same period witnessed the struggle and eventual success of the civil rights movement in ending institutionalized racial discrimination....

During the period 2005 to 2020, Black borrowers with mortgages insured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac paid interest rates that were almost 50 basis points higher than those paid by nonHispanic white borrowers. We show that the main reason is that non-Hispanic white borrowers are much more likely...

Black-owned businesses tend to operate with less finance and employ fewer workers than those owned by Whites. Motivated by a simple conceptual framework, we document these facts and show they are causally connected using large firm-level surveys linked to universal employer data from the Census...

I test for the causal impact of Black electoral victories in local elections on White Americans' attitude toward Black Americans. Using Race Implicit Attitude Test scores as a measure of racial prejudice and close-election regression-discontinuity design for causal inference, I find Black...

This paper aims at an improved understanding of the relationship between monetary policy and racial inequality. We investigate the distributional effects of monetary policy in a unified framework, linking monetary policy shocks both to earnings and wealth differentials between black and white...

Economic theory predicts that intertemporal decisions depend critically on expectations about future outcomes. Using the universe of professional survey forecasts for the United States, we document the behavior of the entire term structure of expectations for output growth, inflation, and the...

Since 1970, the share of Black individuals living in suburbs of larger cities has risen from 16 to 36 percent. We present three facts illustrating how this suburbanization has changed spatial inequality. First, suburbanization entirely accounts for Black households' relative improvements in...