Wealth Accumulation and Communities of Color in the United States: Current Issues

376 Pages·2006·1.21 MB·English

by  Prof. Jessica Gordon Nembhard Ph.D.

Wealth Accumulation & Communities
of Color in the United States
c u r r e n t i s s u e s
Q
Jessica Gordon Nembhard & Ngina Chiteji, Editors
the university of michigan press Ann Arbor
In memory of two giants of African American political economy:
Rhonda M. Williams (1957–2000): sister scholar, intellectual warrior,
mother, colleague, friend; who joined me briefly early on in the journey
to produce this book, but couldn’t finish with me.
Robert S. Browne (1924–2004): scholar activist, philanthropist,
champion of Black land ownership, father, grandfather, colleague;
a pioneer who began the contemporary dialogue about racial
wealth inequality, advanced the theory and practice in myriad
ways, and led us on the path to remedies.
—Jessica Gordon Nembhard
Q
To my parents: Asante sana kwa vitu vyote.
—Ngina Chiteji
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2006
All rights reserved
Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
(cid:1) Printed on acid-free paper
2009 2008 2007 2006 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise,
without the written permission of the publisher.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wealth accumulation and communities of color in the United States :
current issues / [edited by] Jessica Gordon Nembhard and Ngina
Chiteji.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-472-09958-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-472-09958-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-472-06958-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-472-06958-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Wealth—United States. 2. Minorities—United States—Economic
conditions. I. Nembhard, Jessica Gordon. II. Chiteji, Ngina, 1966–
HC110.W4W425 2006
339.2(cid:1)208900973—dc22 2006015257
ISBN13 978-0-472-02490-2 (electronic)
Contents
list of figures v
list of tables vii
acknowledgments xi
INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW jessica gordon nembhard &
ngina chiteji 1
I.
MEASUREMENT & METHODOLOGY
1. WEALTH MEASUREMENT Issues for People of Color in the United States
wilhelmina a. leigh 23
2. ESTIMATING THE EFFECT OF RACE & ETHNICITY ON WEALTH
ACCUMULATION & ASSET-OWNERSHIP PATTERNS
ngina chiteji & darrick hamilton 67
II.
INTRAGROUP INEQUALITY
3. DETERMINANTS OF INTRAGROUP WEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG WHITES,
BLACKS, & LATINOS yuval elmelech 91
4. WOMEN & WEALTH mariko lin chang 112
III.
DATA & INFORMATION ABOUT SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
5. NATIVE AMERICANS’ WEALTH jay l. zagorsky 133
6. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
The Economic Marginalization of Native Hawaiians
paul ong 155
7. ASIAN AMERICANS & WEALTH
paul ong & r. varisa patraporn 173
8. FINANCIAL MARKETPLACE PARTICIPATION & PENSION HOLDINGS OVER
THE LIFE COURSE ngina chiteji, elena gouskova,
& frank stafford 191
IV
. WEALTH EFFECTS & COMMUNITIES
9. BANKING & WEALTH ACCUMULATION IN THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
Questions & Evidence from Los Angeles
gary dymski, lisa mohanty, & wei li 219
10. WEALTH CREATION IN LATINO COMMUNITIES
Latino Families, Community Assets, & Cultural Capital
bárbara j. robles 241
11. LIVING WHERE THE NEIGHBORS ARE INVESTED
Wealth & Racial/Ethnic Differences in Individuals’
Neighborhood Home Ownership Rates
rachael a. woldoff 267
12. WEALTH, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, & DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE
jessica gordon nembhard & anthony a. blasingame 294
AFTERWORD Trends & Trappings, Research & Policy Implications:
An Unorthodox Policy Guide
jessica gordon nembhard 326
about the authors 343
index 349
iv -Q- Contents
List of Figures
Fig. 2.1. OLS Line 75
Fig. 2.2a. Hypothetical White wealth distribution 81
Fig. 2.2b. Hypothetical Black wealth distribution 81
Fig. 3.1. CoefAcient estimates from Tobit analysis by
racial/ethnic category 103
Fig. 5.1. Median young baby boomer wealth 139
Fig. 7.1. Racial wealth gap between White non-Hispanics and
Asian Americans 179
Fig. 9.1. Odds ratios for home-purchase-loan approval, Asian
Americans, selected California cities 233
Fig. 10.1. Home ownership rates by Latino community 244
Fig. 10.2. Percentage of Latina entrepreneurs involving family
members in business operations 245
Fig. 10.3. Latino median net worth 246
Fig. 10.4. Retirement pensions 247
Fig. 10.5. Average gifts and inheritances 248
Fig. 10.6. Latino income distribution 251
Fig. 10.7. Proyecto Azteca, Cascaron Self-Help Housing Program 256

List of Tables\
Table 1.1. Survey Sources of Wealth Data for People of Color 30
Table 1.2a. Mean Net Worth by Race/Ethnicity 32
Table 1.2b. Mean Net Worth by Race/Ethnicity 32
Table 1.3a. Median Net Worth by Race/Ethnicity 33
Table 1.3b. Median Net Worth by Race/Ethnicity 33
Table 1.4. Percentage of Households, by Race/Ethnicity, with
Most Frequently Held Assets 36
Table 1.5a. Percentage of Black Households with Less Frequently
Held Assets 39
Table 1.5b. Percentage of Hispanic-Origin Households with Less
Frequently Held Assets 39
Table 1.5c. Percentage of White and White Non-Hispanic
Households with Less Frequently Held Assets 39
Table 1.5d. Percentage of All Households with Less Frequently
Held Assets 40
Table 1.6. Assets with Largest Median Net Values in
Asset-Holding Households, by Race/Ethnicity 41
Table 1.7. Assets with Largest Mean Net Values in Asset-Holding
Households, by Race/Ethnicity 42
Table 1.8. Median and Mean Values of Stocks and Mutual Fund
Shares in Asset-Holding Households, by
Race/Ethnicity 42
Table 2.1. Comparison of Unadjusted and Adjusted Wealth Gaps 71
Table 2.2. Examples of Decomposition Analysis Results 79
Table 3.1. Mean Characteristics of Households by Racial/Ethnic
Origin 98
Table 3.2. Median Measured Net Worth by Racial/Ethnic Origin 100
Table 3.3. Unstandardized Regression CoefAcients from Tobit
Analysis Predicting Logged Total Household Net
Worth by Racial Category 101
Table 4.1. Median Wealth by Household Type and Gender 115
Table 4.2. Distribution of Households across Wealth Quintiles 116
Table 4.3. Gender Differences in Median Wealth by Race 117
Table 4.4. Asset Ownership—and Median Value, If Owned—by
Household Type and Gender 119
Table 4.5. Median Annual Income for Year-Round Full-Time
Workers, Ages 18–64, by Marital Status and Gender 121
Table 5.1. Demographics of All Young Baby Boomers and Native
Americans 137
Table 5.2. Net Worth of Native American and All Young Baby
Boomers 140
Table 5.3. Mean Percentage of Net Worth Held in Financial,
Illiquid, and Home Forms 141
Table 5.4. Percentage Owning, Mean Value, and Percentage of
Portfolio for SpeciAc Categories 142
Table 5.5. Native American Business Ownership 145
Table 6.1. Farmland Assets 158
Table 6.2. Racial Distribution of Businesses 160
Table 6.3. Household Assets by Age Groups 162
Table 6.4. Housing Characteristics 163
Table 6.5. Asset Income and Home Values by Race 165
Table 6.6. Decomposition of Group Disparities 166
Table 7.1. Wealth Distribution, Major Racial Groups 177
Table 7.2. Wealth Distribution, Asians and White Non-Hispanics 181
Table 7.3. Mean Household Income and Assets in the United
States by Asian Ethnicity 182
Table 8.1. Comparison of Findings about Pension Wealth in the
Literature 194
Table 8.2. Distribution of Portfolio Span 200
Table 8.3. Mean (median) Net Family Wealth 201
Table 8.4. Distribution of the Five Most Popular Portfolio Types 202
Table 8.5. Pension Ownership Rates among Married Couples 203
Table 8.6. Distribution of Head’s Pension Plan Type 204
Table 8.7. Pension Ownership Rates by Household Portfolio
Type 206
Table 8.8. Mean (median) Net Wealth among Married Couples 207
viii -Q- List of Tables
Table 8.9. Logistic Models 209
Table 9.1. Summary Census Data on Income, Home Ownership,
and Business Ownership 224
Table 9.2. Ratio of Asian/PaciAc Islander Values to Whites’
Values 228
Table 9.3. Ethnic and Nonethnic Bank Branches and Deposit
Totals 231
Table 9.4. Chinese and African American Residential, Business,
and Bank Populations 236
Table 11.1. Measures and Descriptive Statistics for Independent
and Dependent Variables 275
Table 11.2. Results for OLS Regression Analysis for
Neighborhood Home Ownership, Total Sample 278
Table 11.3. Group-SpeciAc Results for Regression Analyses for
Neighborhood Home Ownership 282
Table 12.1. PSID 2001 Descriptive Statistics 308
Table 12.2. Probit Models of the Incidence of Charitable Giving
and Volunteering for Whites 310
Table 12.3. Probit Models of the Incidence of Charitable Giving
and Volunteering for Blacks 312
Table 12.4. Heckman Selection Model of Total Amount of Giving
to Charitable Organizations 313
Table 12.5. Probit Analysis of the Incidence of Giving to Religious
Organizations 315
Table 12.6. Heckman Selection Model of Total Amount of Giving
to Religious Organizations 316
Table 12.7. Heckman Selection Model of Total Volunteer Hours to
Charitable Organizations 317
List of Tables -Q- ix