The Impact of Economic Freedom on the Black/White Income Gap
- (pp. 587-92)
Abstract
Using state-level data from 1980-2010 we examine whether economic freedom, as measured by the Economic Freedom of North America Index, has had any impact in increasing or decreasing the ratio of median income for black households to the median income of white households. To our knowledge, there has been no research on racial income disparities and the role that economic freedom might have in alleviating or exacerbating the problem. We find evidence that economic freedom is associated with an increase in the racial income gap.Citation
Hoover, Gary A., Ryan A. Compton, and Daniel C. Giedeman. 2015. "The Impact of Economic Freedom on the Black/White Income Gap." American Economic Review, 105 (5): 587-92. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151111Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- E02 Institutions and the Macroeconomy
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials