Presented By: Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics (CID)
“The Tax Treatment of Housing as a Source of Racial Inequality”
CID Speaker Series: Joe LaBriola
Join the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics as we host our own faculty member Joe LaBriola as he presents, “The Tax Treatment of Housing as a Source of Racial Inequality.”
Abstract: “In this talk, I argue that the state contributes to cumulative advantage processes in United States housing markets through the tax treatment of homeownership, which fuels house price growth and provides greater economic benefits to groups with high homeownership rates. I focus in particular on the effect of the mortgage interest deduction, a federal tax expenditure that transfers tens of billions of dollars to homeowners each year, on economic inequality between White and Black households. I document wide White-Black inequality in mortgage interest deduction benefits, caused in large part by White-Black gaps in homeownership, and demonstrate how the mortgage interest deduction has contributed to growth of the White-Black wealth gap in recent decades. However, I also show that White-Black gaps in mortgage interest deduction benefits have narrowed over time, due to falling mortgage interest rates and increases in the size of the standard deduction. These findings highlight how the effects of racialized tax policies depend on how institutional and macroeconomic conditions interact with racial gaps in factors that affect tax liabilities.”
Joe LaBriola is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, where he is Faculty at the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics. His research examines the roots of social stratification in the contemporary United States, with his current research focusing on the role of housing and housing policy in exacerbating racial and socioeconomic inequalities. Methodologically, he uses econometric methods and microsimulation modeling to analyze survey and administrative data. His work has been published in leading sociology journals including the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, and Social Problems.
Lunch will be provided to all in-person attendees. Please RSVP to save your seat.
Abstract: “In this talk, I argue that the state contributes to cumulative advantage processes in United States housing markets through the tax treatment of homeownership, which fuels house price growth and provides greater economic benefits to groups with high homeownership rates. I focus in particular on the effect of the mortgage interest deduction, a federal tax expenditure that transfers tens of billions of dollars to homeowners each year, on economic inequality between White and Black households. I document wide White-Black inequality in mortgage interest deduction benefits, caused in large part by White-Black gaps in homeownership, and demonstrate how the mortgage interest deduction has contributed to growth of the White-Black wealth gap in recent decades. However, I also show that White-Black gaps in mortgage interest deduction benefits have narrowed over time, due to falling mortgage interest rates and increases in the size of the standard deduction. These findings highlight how the effects of racialized tax policies depend on how institutional and macroeconomic conditions interact with racial gaps in factors that affect tax liabilities.”
Joe LaBriola is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, where he is Faculty at the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics. His research examines the roots of social stratification in the contemporary United States, with his current research focusing on the role of housing and housing policy in exacerbating racial and socioeconomic inequalities. Methodologically, he uses econometric methods and microsimulation modeling to analyze survey and administrative data. His work has been published in leading sociology journals including the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, and Social Problems.
Lunch will be provided to all in-person attendees. Please RSVP to save your seat.
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