Escape from the City? The Role of Race, Income, and Local Public Goods in Post-War Suburbanization

Leah Boustan

No 13311, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Affluent towns often deliver high-quality public services to their residents. I estimate the willingness to pay to live in a high-income suburb, above and beyond the demand of wealthy neighbors, by measuring changes in housing prices across city-suburban borders as the income disparity between the two municipalities changes over time. I find that a $10,000 increase in town-level median income is associated with a seven percent increase in housing values at the border. The estimated demand for high-income municipalities is primarily driven by school quality and lower property tax rates.

JEL-codes: H71 H72 H73 N92 R21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-pbe and nep-ure
Note: DAE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published as “Was Postwar Suburbanization 'White Flight'? Evidence from the Black Migration.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2010.

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