Disparities in pollution capitalization rates: the role of direct and systemic discrimination

Joshua Graff Zivin and Gregor Singer

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We examine how exogenous changes in exposure to air pollution over the past two decades have altered the disparities in home values between Black and White homeowners. We find that air quality capitalization rates are significantly lower for Black homeowners. In fact, they are so much lower that, despite secular reductions in the Black-White pollution exposure gap, disparities in housing values have increased during this period. An exploration of mechanisms suggests that roughly one-quarter of this difference is the result of direct discrimination while the remaining three-quarters can be attributed to systemic discrimination through differential access to complementary amenities.

Keywords: house prices; environmental justice; air pollution; race (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 Q53 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 75 pages
Date: 2023-01-27
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/118093/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Disparities in Pollution Capitalization Rates: The Role of Direct and Systemic Discrimination (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:118093

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