Black Mayors and Black Communities

Craig Sylvera

No 25-07, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Abstract: Do Black communities economically benefit from the election of a Black mayor? I find majority-Black ZIP codes experience gains in all areas of economic activity relative to non-Black communities following the first election of a Black mayor. Across industries, the number of establishments in majority-Black ZIP codes increases, including those that rely on foot traffic. Before breakthrough elections, Black residents are less likely than white residents to identify as self-employed across all cities, but this difference is reduced after an election; however, the cities in which the pre-breakthrough self-employment difference is larger experience no changes to the B–W self-employment gap post-election, suggesting institutional and historical factors may limit Black economic progress in places of higher disparity.

Keywords: Local government; mayors; community development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H7 J1 J7 R5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 84
Date: 2025-02-26
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedcwq:99618

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DOI: 10.26509/frbc-wp-202507

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