Language and segregation: evidence from housing markets in the United States

It has been suggested that residential segregation has negative social and economic impacts. However, psychological and cultural benefits of such clustering have been established by research. We undertake a comprehensive analysis by estimating residential choices of minorities and identifying their willingness to pay for housing attributes and community characteristics. Recognizing that the language spoken at home adds to daily convenience, a sense of belonging, and a feeling of closeness, we widen the scope of the study to include four minority groups, defined by the languages spoken at home. We find that preferences for integrating into white, English-speaking societies are quite heterogeneous. The willingness to pay to live in a community with more own language speakers is inversely associated with the willingness to pay to live in a community with more English-speaking whites. Furthermore, any two minority groups share the same reciprocal attitudes towards each other. To assimilate more into the mainstream, a minority group might choose to reside in a community with fewer people who speak their language, but they would not necessarily be willing to lower the percentage of other minority groups.