Place-based tax incentives and minority employment: Evidence from the New Market Tax Credit Program

In this paper, we study the impact of the New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) program in the United States on overall jobs and jobs held by minority and rural populations within the 2010-2019 period using a dynamic event-study analysis. We also investigate if the jobs that can be attributed to the program stayed in program recipient neighborhoods or whether those jobs were occupied by non-residents. The results show that there is clear evidence that the program increased overall workplace jobs and workplace jobs held by White and minority populations in the program recipient tracts. We also see that a larger share of workplace jobs due to the program went to minorities compared to the job shares held by various racial and ethnic groups at the beginning of the investment period. The results further show that even though the NMTC program increased the number of jobs available in a program recipient tract, the individuals who live outside that tract are holding many of the jobs created. The results also suggest that the program had a negative impact on jobs held by residents in nonmetropolitan tracts.