Description:

Speaker: Myera Rashid 

Title: The Black-White Mobility Gap: The Role of Religious Institutions in the US

Abstract: The economic mobility of Black Americans has lagged far behind that of their White counterparts and continues to do so today. In this work-in-progress, I study the role of the Black Church as a determinant of this observed economic mobility gap. Black churches may improve intergenerational outcomes for members by providing informal economic insurance or migration networks to places with better opportunities. Simultaneously, strong ties to their churches can also prevent Black individuals from migrating to take advantage of faraway economic opportunities, thus reducing both geographic and economic mobility. Exploiting a historical natural experiment that led to out-migration of Black individuals, I assess how presence of Black churches mediates this effect. Preliminary results suggest that Black churches might have facilitated out-migration of Black individuals in the presence of a shock.