Inequality Versus Inclusion in US Cities

Christina Stacy (), Brady Meixell () and Tanaya Srini ()
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Christina Stacy: Urban Institute
Brady Meixell: Urban Institute
Tanaya Srini: Urban Institute

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2019, vol. 145, issue 1, No 6, 117-156

Abstract: Abstract Income inequality is a suboptimal measure of inclusion at the city level. A low level of inequality can reflect the exclusion or displacement of low income residents, or it can reflect a lack of opportunity overall. Using data for 274 U.S. cities for the years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010, we create more complete measures of both economic and racial inclusion. We then compare these inclusion measures with the Gini coefficient using a within estimator for cities over time. Results indicate that inequality and inclusion are not highly correlated and often trend in opposite directions. Most concerning is that reductions in income inequality are associated with reductions in the percent and number of residents of color within a city, suggesting that changes in income inequality capture the displacement of residents rather than true improvements to quality of life.

Keywords: Inequality; Inclusion; City; Race; D63: Equity; Justice; Inequality; and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement; R12: Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-019-02090-3

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