Racial Stratification in the Actuation of Mobility Expectations: Microlevel Impacts of Racially Restrictive Housing Markets

Abstract

This research uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine racial differences in the ability to translate mobility expectations into a residential move. The results indicate that, despite similar mobility expectations, black householders are significantly less likely than white householders to translate their expectations into a residential move. Supporting the stratification perspective, this racial difference persists when a variety of individual and contextual characteristics are controlled. Furthermore, higher income appears to enhance the ability of white but not black householders to convert their mobility expectations into a move. Supplemental analyses suggest that this racial stratification does not reflect poorer planning on the part of blacks and that this racial disparity helps to explain existing racial differences in the ability to escape poor neighborhoods.