VIOLENT-CRIME RATES AND RACIAL COMPOSITION - CONVERGENCE OVER TIME

Considerable research reports that racial composition strongly affects violent-crime rates. Unfortunately, most research ignores the possibi lity that violent-crime rates may affect racial composition. Using a s ample of U.S. cities, the authors examine the reciprocal effects of ra cial composition and violent-crime rates over the last 40 years. While racial composition strongly affects the change in violent-crime rates from 1980 to 1990, it only minimally affects changes in rates for the previous three decades; but violent-crime rates (especially robbery) substantially affect the change in racial composition for all four dec ades. Indeed, robbery rates appear to play a significant role in the w hite flight from central cities.