Graduation Year

2025

Date of Submission

12-2024

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Sarah Robinson

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Rights Information

© 2024 Taylor Daetz

Abstract

This thesis examines the effect of discriminatory housing policy on current asthma rates in California cities. This study uses boundary design and propensity score methodologies to analyze asthma-related emergency department visits in census tracts with corresponding appraisal grades from the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation maps. The results indicate significantly higher asthma burdens in grade D (redlined) census tracts compared to grade C tracts, even when controlling for present-day pollution concentrations, with historically redlined tracts experiencing an average of 26.88 additional emergency department visits per 10,000 residents. The analysis further reveals disparities between grade C and B neighborhoods, suggesting that even less severely impacted tracts face meaningful health inequities. These findings align with previous studies linking redlining to poor health outcomes and highlight the compounded effects of structural disinvestment and environmental exposures.

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