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African American Intergenerational Economic Mobility since 1880

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  • William J. Collins
  • Marianne H. Wanamaker

Abstract

We document the intergenerational mobility of Black and White American men from 1880 through 2000 by building new historical datasets for the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and combining them with modern data to cover the middle and late twentieth century. We find large disparities in mobility, with White children having far better chances of escaping the bottom of the distribution than Black children in every generation. This mobility gap was more important in proximately determining each generation's racial gap than was the initial gap in parents' economic status.

Suggested Citation

  • William J. Collins & Marianne H. Wanamaker, 2022. "African American Intergenerational Economic Mobility since 1880," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 84-117, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:84-117
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20170656
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    Cited by:

    1. Chan, Jeff, 2024. "The long-run effects of childhood exposure to market access shocks: Evidence from the US railroad network expansion," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
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    3. Martha J. Bailey & Peter Z. Lin, 2024. "Marital Matching and Women’s Intergenerational Mobility in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century US," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic History of American Inequality: New Evidence and Perspectives, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Fatima Mboup, 2023. "Economic Activity by Race," Working Papers 23-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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