Lecture 5

Question 1

Evenness in ethnic segregation

Answer 1

to what extent is the immigrant population unevenly distributed?
– Captures if members of a group (e.g., immigrants) are unevenly distributed
over space relative to some other group (e.g., natives)

Question 2

Exposure in ethnic segregation

Answer 2

to what extent is the average immigrant exposed to natives?
– Captures potential contact or interaction between groups

Question 3

Concentration in ethnic segregation

Answer 3

to what extent are immigrants concentrated in space?
– Captures if immigrants occupy a small share of the total area in a city

Question 4

Centralization in ethnic segregation

Answer 4

to what extent are immigrants located in the center?
– Captures where in the city immigrants are concentrated

Question 5

Clustering in ethnic segregation

Answer 5

to what extent do immigrants cluster in space?
– Captures if immigrants live close to each other within and across
neighborhoods in a city

Question 6

the dissimilarity index

Answer 6

=1/2 ∑
(im1/IM − nai/NA)

Question 7

What can explain segregation between natives and immigrants on the housing
market?

Answer 7

Immigrants’ settlement choice might differ from that of natives. Åslund
(2005) finds that immigrants in Sweden settle:

Question 8

What affects where immigrants usually settle

Answer 8

• near other immigrants and, in particular, close to immigrants with similar
  ethnic background.
  – to a higher degree in metropolitan areas
  – in municipalities with low unemployment rate and high welfare
  participation (latter mixed evidence)

Question 9

Living in an ethnic enclave may affect an individual’s labor market
outcomes in what ways?

Answer 9

Slower rate of host-country skill acquisition.
Network effects.
Spatial mismatch.
Human capital externalities.

Question 10

The tipping model

Answer 10

The aim is to model the location choice of households, with focus on how this
decision is affected by the minority immigrant share (m) in the neighborhood. With inverse
demand functions.

Question 11

What can we learn from the tipping model?

Answer 11

Even if segregation might be self-chosen by immigrants, ethnic segregation is
reinforced by the residential mobility behavior of natives.

This suggests that native residential mobility behavior is one of the driving
forces behind ethnic residential segregation in Sweden.

In the formation of policies aimed at decreasing ethnic segregation one must
keep in mind that redistributions of the immigrant population might have
implications for native mobility.