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The Economic Aftermath of the 1960s Riots: Evidence from Property Values

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  • William J. Collins
  • Robert A. Margo

Abstract

In the 1960s numerous cities in the United States experienced violent, race-related civil disturbances. Although social scientists have long studied the causes of the riots, the consequences have received much less attention. This paper examines census data from 1950 to 1980 to measure the riots' impact on the value of central-city residential property, and especially on black-owned property. Both ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares estimates indicate that the riots depressed the median value of black-owned property between 1960 and 1970, with little or no rebound in the 1970s. Analysis of household-level data suggests that the racial gap in the value of property widened in riot-afflicted cities during the 1970s.

Suggested Citation

  • William J. Collins & Robert A. Margo, 2004. "The Economic Aftermath of the 1960s Riots: Evidence from Property Values," NBER Working Papers 10493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10493
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Collins, William J. & Margo, Robert A., 2000. "Residential segregation and socioeconomic outcomes: When did ghettos go bad?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 239-243, November.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Doug Miller & Jens Ludwig, 2005. "Does Head Start Improve Children?s Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Working Papers 534, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    2. Leah Platt Boustan, 2012. "School Desegregation and Urban Change: Evidence from City Boundaries," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 85-108, January.
    3. Zahran, Sammy & Iverson, Terrence & McElmurry, Shawn P. & Weiler, Stephan & Levitt, Ryan, 2019. "Hidden Costs of Blight and Arson in Detroit: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Devil's Night," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 266-277.
    4. Doug Miller & Jens Ludwig, 2005. "Does Head Start Improve Children?s Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Working Papers 54, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    5. Jaideep Gupte & Patricia Justino & Jean-Pierre Tranchant, 2012. "Households amidst urban riots: The economic consequences of civil violence in India," HiCN Working Papers 126, Households in Conflict Network.
    6. Henry Louis Taylor, Jr. & D. Gavin Luter & Camden Miller, 2018. "The University, Neighborhood Revitalization, and Civic Engagement: Toward Civic Engagement 3.0," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-21, October.
    7. Collins, William J. & Smith, Fred H., 2007. "A neighborhood-level view of riots, property values, and population loss: Cleveland 1950-1980," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 365-386, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General
    • N92 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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