Ethnicity, Immigration, and Wealth Fluctuations in the United States. (10th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gorbachev, Olga; O'Flaherty, Brendan; Sethi, Rajiv
• Is Part Of: Review of income and wealth. Series 64:Number 4(2018)
• Page Start: 928
• Page End: 960
• Publication Date: 2017-08-10
• Subjects: wealth inequality -- housing -- immigration -- ethnicity; National income -- Accounting -- Periodicals; 332.05
• DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12317
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0034-6586

Abstract

Abstract : Wealth in the United States rose and fell precipitously during the first decade of this century for all major ethnic groups, but the fluctuations in Hispanic wealth were especially extreme. We show that household characteristics and location can account for the Hispanic experience during the boom but not the bust. We argue that the sudden collapse in credit availability to undocumented immigrants at the start of the recession led, through a contraction in demand for the homes of natural sellers in this market, to a loss in wealth far greater than could be predicted based on household characteristics and location alone.