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American Economic Review Vol. 105 No. 5 2015

The Impact of Economic Freedom on the Black/White Income Gap

Gary A. Hoover1; Ryan A. Compton2; Daniel C. Giedeman3

1 Department of Economics, University of Oklahoma, 308 Cate Center Drive, Norman, OK 73019 (e-mail: ) · 2 Department of Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB Canada R3T 5V5 (e-mail: ) · 3 Department of Economics, Grand Valley State University, 50 Front Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (e-mail: )

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.

DOI
10.1257/aer.p20151111
Volume
105
Issue
5
Pages
587-592
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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