Racial Discrimination in Urban Rental Housing: An Analysis of Southern Nonmetropolitan Markets with Implications for Demand Side Housing Assistance

摘要

This doctoral dissertation analyzes the influence of racial discrimination per se on price determination and allocation processes in the southern nonmetropolitan rental housing market. It assumes that the housing market is completely structured and deals with marketplace manifestations of the collective actions of individuals. A market perspective based on housing prices and consumption levels leads to hypotheses readily anenable to systematic testing. The author presents an equilibrium theory of housing price determination which accounts for the effects of racial prejudice and preferences for segregation. These hypotheses are then subjected to rigorous statistical testing. The thesis brings together results of the analyses to examine the influence of market discrimination on improving housing conditions through market oriented strategies, a guaranteed annual income, and a housing allowance program. The analysis considers levels of housing improvement likely to be realized by blacks and whites. The major conclusion is that the rental markets studied are a weak union of two somewhat independent, racially-defined submarkets. The potential magnitude of the discriminatory effects of an allowance program is estimated.