Aaronson, Hartley and Mazumder, The Effects of the 1930s HOLC "Redlining" Maps

Peer-reviewed boundary-design study of neighborhoods on either side of HOLC grade lines. The published abstract: “The maps led to reduced home ownership rates, house values, and rents and increased racial segregation in later decades.” The abstract says these results “suggest the HOLC maps had meaningful and lasting effects on the development of urban neighborhoods through reduced credit access and subsequent disinvestment.” The authors’ manuscript (AEA, assets.aeaweb.org/asset-server/files/13998.pdf) also says: “We will likely never know the degree to which lenders used the actual maps or received the underlying information in the maps.” Read in the published abstract and the authors’ manuscript on September 30, 2026.