Quantifying Specific and Systemic Factors in the Black-White Wealth Gap in the United States

Hamidreza Habibi, Rongchen Liu, Gonzalo Martin Respighi Grasso, Anirban Sanyal and Nirvikar Singh ()
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Hamidreza Habibi: University of California
Rongchen Liu: Meta
Gonzalo Martin Respighi Grasso: University of California
Anirban Sanyal: Reserve Bank of India
Nirvikar Singh: University of California

Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, 2025, vol. 8, issue 3, No 3, 210-232

Abstract: Abstract This paper provides a new quantitative analysis of the role of specific and systemic factors in racial wealth disparities in the United States. Specific or individual factors include characteristics such as education, occupation, homeownership, and inheritance. Systemic factors can be reflected in unexplained racial differences, or by considering the effect of differences in characteristics when taken together. Utilizing the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances and different approaches to estimating the effects of various characteristics, we argue that measured individual characteristics are limited in their ability to explain much of the Black-White wealth gap in the US. Quantile regressions find that the racial wealth gap exists within comparable segments of the wealth distribution, and also suggest that race matters, beyond measured characteristics.

Keywords: Wealth inequality; Racial inequality; Education; Inheritance; Wealth patterns (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s41996-024-00160-4

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