The Effects of the 1930s HOLC “Redlining” Maps
Open accessAbstract
This study uses a boundary design and propensity score methods to study the effects of the 1930s-era Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) “redlining” maps on the long-run trajectories of urban neighborhoods. The maps led to reduced home ownership rates, house values, and rents and increased racial segregation in later decades. A comparison on either side of a city-level population cutoff that determined whether maps were drawn finds broadly similar conclusions. These results suggest the HOLC maps had meaningful and lasting effects on the development of urban neighborhoods through reduced credit access and subsequent disinvestment. (JEL G21, J15, N32, N42, N92, R23, R31)
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References 50 · Cited by 349
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Research works printed but not linked: 7
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- Authors
- Aaronson, D., Hartley, D., & Mazumder, B.
- Affiliations
- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (US)
- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (email: )
- Venue
- American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Published
- 2021-11-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 355-392
- ISSN
- 1945-7731 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-774X
- OpenAlex
- W3121281090
- Semantic Scholar
- 55a8eab76a2b4a2e86fc87e4a069bb37aa8197c1
- Cited by
- 349
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 69.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.chicagofed.org
- Locations
- American Economic Journal Economic Policy (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Housing Market and Economics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
- Keywords
- Home Owners' Loan Corporation, racial segregation, neighborhood disinvestment, homeownership, housing prices, rent, access to credit, urban neighborhoods
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