American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
The Effects of the 1930s HOLC "Redlining" Maps
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 13,
no. 4, November 2021
(pp. 355–92)
Abstract
This study uses a boundary design and propensity score methods to study the effects of the 1930s-era Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) "redlining" maps on the long-run trajectories of urban neighborhoods. The maps led to reduced home ownership rates, house values, and rents and increased racial segregation in later decades. A comparison on either side of a city-level population cutoff that determined whether maps were drawn finds broadly similar conclusions. These results suggest the HOLC maps had meaningful and lasting effects on the development of urban neighborhoods through reduced credit access and subsequent disinvestment.Citation
Aaronson, Daniel, Daniel Hartley, and Bhashkar Mazumder. 2021. "The Effects of the 1930s HOLC "Redlining" Maps." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 13 (4): 355–92. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190414Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- N42 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- N92 Regional and Urban History: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
- R31 Housing Supply and Markets