Do Black Mayors Improve Black Employment Outcomes?

Abstract: To what extent do politicians reward voters who are members of their own ethnic or racial group? Using data from 40 large cities in the United States, we study how black employment outcomes are affected by changes in the race of the cities’ mayors between 1971 and 2003. We find that black employment rises during the tenure of black mayors both in absolute terms and relative to white employment. We also find that the effect of black mayors on black employment is stronger in cities that have a large black community. This suggests that electoral incentives may be an important determinant of racial favoritism