Land‐use patterns on heirs' property in the American South

Abstract

AbstractHeirs' property is a much‐criticized form of land ownership that disproportionately affects African Americans. This paper outlines a novel methodology for identifying heirs' property and classifying land‐use thereon. We summarize our results for the US South and present a comparison of land‐use patterns on heirs' property to the broader population, providing evidence both for and against commonly held beliefs about land use on heirs' property. For example, we find that the percentage of heirs' property classified as other (non‐agricultural) rural land is five times higher than the general population of non‐federal property, while the percentage of land classified as cropland is relatively equal between the two groups.