Separate when equal? Racial inequality and residential segregation
Abstract
This paper sets out a new mechanism, involving the emergence of middle-class black
neighborhoods, that can lead segregation in American cities to increase as racial
inequality narrows. The formation of such neighborhoods requires a critical mass of
highly educated blacks in the population and leads to an increase in segregation when
those communities are attractive for blacks who otherwise would reside in middle-class
white neighborhoods. To assess the empirical importance of this "neighborhood formation"
mechanism, we propose a two-part research design. First, inequality and segregation
should be negatively related in cross section for older blacks if our mechanism operates
strongly, as we find using both the 1990 and 2000 Censuses. Second, a negative relationship
should also be apparent over time, particularly for older blacks. Here, we show that
increased educational attainment of blacks relative to whites in a city between 1990
and 2000 leads to a significant rise in segregation, especially for older blacks,
and to a marked increase in the number of middle-class black communities. These findings
draw attention to a negative feedback loop between racial inequality and segregation
that has implications for the dynamics of both phenomena. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2037Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.jue.2014.05.002Publication Info
Bayer, P; Fang, H; & McMillan, R (2014). Separate when equal? Racial inequality and residential segregation. Journal of Urban Economics, 82. pp. 32-48. 10.1016/j.jue.2014.05.002. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2037.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Patrick Bayer
Gilhuly Family Distinguished Professor in Economics
Bayer's research focuses on wide range of subjects including racial inequality and
segregation, social interactions, housing markets, education, and criminal justice.
His most recent work has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American
Economic Review, Econometrica, and the Review of Financial Studies. He is currently
working on projects that examine jury representation and its consequences, the intergenerational
consequences of residential and school segregation, neighborhood

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