Is discrimination disappearing? Residential credit market evidence, 1992‐98

Makes three contributions to the ongoing debate over whether racial discrimination is disappearing, and white privilege eroding. First, develops an argument concerning why many economists treat empirical evidence of racial discrimination with skepticism or indifference. Second, presents some new econometric results which provide empirical insight into whether racial inequality is disappearing in residential credit markets. These results suggest that for African Americans and Latinos, racial disadvantage remains statistically significant in most cities, though its magnitude has fallen during the 1990s in many cities. Third, suggests an empirical implementation of “white privilege” in the residential credit market. Consistently finds white advantage in credit markets to be statistically significant in an econometric model of residential loan approval and denial.