Race and Violent Crime in the Suburbs

We examine the effects of racial composition on crime rates but we give equal weight to the opposite causal order--the violent crime rate itself could cause a change in racial composition. The authors test the hypothesis using data a national sample of [U.S.] suburbs for the period 1970 to 1990. We find significant and approximately equal causal effects in both directions; specifically it is the robbery component of crime that affects racial composition. High robbery rates are associated with black population growth while stimulating white flight. (EXCERPT)