Redlining in Boston: Do Mortgage Lenders Discriminate Against Neighborhoods?

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 1996
Volume: 111
Issue: 4
Pages: 1049-1079

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Historically, lenders have been accused of "redlining" minority neighborhoods as well as refusing to lend to minority applicants. Considerable bank regulation is designed to prevent both actions. However, the strong correlation between race and neighborhood makes it difficult to distinguish the impact of geographic discrimination from the effects of racial discrimination. Previous studies have failed to untangle these two influences, in part, because of severe omitted variable bias. The data set in this paper allows the distinct effects of race and geography to be identified, and it shows that the evidence for redlining is weak.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:111:y:1996:i:4:p:1049-1079.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29