IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cfm/wpaper/2310.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Racial Wealth Gap: the Role of Entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Albuquerque

    (Bank of England)

  • Tomer Ifergane

    (London School of Economics (LSE)
    Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM)
    Ben-Gurion University)

Abstract

The racial wealth gap is one of the most striking and persistent disparities between Black and White households in the US. We study the determinants of this gap using a general equilibrium incomplete market model featuring dynamic discrete entrepreneurship choice and an empirically estimated income process. In the model, Black households face: (i) higher capital costs as entrepreneurs; (ii) a labour-income gap; and (iii) greater non-employment risk. We find that access to capital for Black entrepreneurs accounts for most of the racial wealth gap. Our model demonstrates that wealth transfers without social change cannot permanently address this gap and points towards addressing barriers faced by Black entrepreneurs as a key margin of intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Albuquerque & Tomer Ifergane, 2023. "The Racial Wealth Gap: the Role of Entrepreneurship," Discussion Papers 2310, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    • Handle: RePEc:cfm:wpaper:2310
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.lse.ac.uk/CFM/assets/pdf/CFM-Discussion-Papers-2023/CFMDP2023-10-Paper.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Myers, Caitlin Knowles, 2004. "Discrimination and neighborhood effects: understanding racial differentials in US housing prices," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 279-302, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Vasco M. Carvalho & Basile Grassi, 2019. "Large Firm Dynamics and the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(4), pages 1375-1425, April.
    4. Higgs, Robert, 1982. "Accumulation of Property by Southern Blacks before World War I," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 725-737, September.
    5. Becker, Gary S., 1971. "The Economics of Discrimination," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 2, number 9780226041162, August.
    6. Kevin Lang & Michael Manove & William T. Dickens, 2005. "Racial Discrimination in Labor Markets with Posted Wage Offers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1327-1340, September.
    7. Blanchard, Lloyd & Zhao, Bo & Yinger, John, 2008. "Do lenders discriminate against minority and woman entrepreneurs?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 467-497, March.
    8. Gyourko, Joseph & Linneman, Peter & Wachter, Susan, 1999. "Analyzing the Relationships among Race, Wealth, and Home Ownership in America," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 63-89, June.
    9. Robert W. Fairlie & Bruce D. Meyer, 2000. "Trends in Self-Employment among White and Black Men during the Twentieth Century," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(4), pages 643-669.
    10. Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2014. "Firms, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity: A Review," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 735-770, August.
    11. Amitabh Chandra, 2003. "Is the Convergence of the Racial Wage Gap Illusory?," NBER Working Papers 9476, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Amir Kermani & Francis Wong, 2021. "Racial Disparities in Housing Returns," NBER Working Papers 29306, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Coate, Stephen & Loury, Glenn C, 1993. "Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1220-1240, December.
    14. Brent W Ambrose & James N Conklin & Luis A Lopez, 2021. "Does Borrower and Broker Race Affect the Cost of Mortgage Credit? [Why don’t lenders renegotiate more home mortgages? Redefaults, self-cures and securitization]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 790-826.
    15. Jacob W. Faber & Ingrid Gould Ellen, 2016. "Race and the Housing Cycle: Differences in Home Equity Trends Among Long-Term Homeowners," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 456-473, May.
    16. Jean-Felix Brouillette & Charles I. Jones & Peter J. Klenow, 2021. "Race and Economic Well-Being in the United States," NBER Working Papers 29539, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Ana Castaneda & Javier Diaz-Gimenez & Jose-Victor Rios-Rull, 2003. "Accounting for the U.S. Earnings and Wealth Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(4), pages 818-857, August.
    18. Timothy Bates & Alicia Robb, 2016. "Impacts of Owner Race and Geographic Context on Access to Small-Business Financing," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(2), pages 159-170, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Job Boerma & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2023. "Reparations and Persistent Racial Wealth Gaps," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 171-221.
    2. 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.
    3. Stephen L. Ross, 2005. "The Continuing Practice and Impact of Discrimination," Working papers 2005-19, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2006.
    4. Lanning, Jonathan A., 2014. "A search model with endogenous job destruction and discrimination: Why equal wage policies may not eliminate wage disparity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 55-71.
    5. 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..
    6. Lagerlöf, Johan N.M., 2020. "Strategic gains from discrimination," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    7. Rajesh Ramachandran & Christopher Rauh, 2018. "Discrimination without taste: how discrimination can spillover and persist," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 249-274, August.
    8. James Conklin & Kristopher Gerardi & Lauren Lambie-Hanson, 2022. "Can Everyone Tap Into the Housing Piggy Bank? Racial Disparities in Access to Home Equity," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2022-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    9. Jackson William E. & Marino Louis & Naidoo Jefrey S. & Tucker Reginald, 2018. "Size Matters: The Impact of Loan Size on Measures of Disparate Treatment toward Minority Entrepreneurs in the Small Firm Credit Market," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, October.
    10. Kim, Mee Jung & Lee, Kyung Min & Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2021. "Black Entrepreneurs, Job Creation, and Financial Constraints," IZA Discussion Papers 14403, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Johan N. M. Lagerlöf, 2016. "Strategic Gains from Labor Market Discrimination," Discussion Papers 16-03, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    12. 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.
    13. Joshua S. Graff Zivin & Gregor Singer, 2022. "Disparities in Pollution Capitalization Rates: The Role of Direct and Systemic Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 30814, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Masters, Adrian, 2014. "Statistical discrimination from composition effects in the market for low-skilled workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 72-80.
    15. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.
    16. Luojia Hu & Christopher Taber, 2011. "Displacement, Asymmetric Information, and HeterogeneousHuman Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 113-152, January.
    17. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Bruno Decreuse & Morgane Laouénan & Alain Trannoy, 2016. "Customer Discrimination and Employment Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the French Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 107-160.
    18. T. William Lester & Matthew D. Wilson, 2023. "The Racial and Spatial Impacts of the Paycheck Protection Program," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(3), pages 243-258, August.
    19. Pulido, José & Varón, Alejandra, 2024. "Misallocation of the immigrant workforce: Aggregate productivity effects for the host country," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    20. repec:wyi:journl:002164 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Bruno Decreuse & Morgane Laouénan & Alain Trannoy, 2016. "Customer Discrimination and Employment Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the French Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 107-160.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Racial wealth gap; entrepreneurship; incomplete markets; wealth accumulation; financial frictions; wealth inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D52 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Incomplete Markets

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cfm:wpaper:2310. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Helen Power (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cmlseuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.