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On the Measurement of Segregation

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Author Info
Federico Echenique
Roland G. Fryer, Jr.

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Abstract

This paper develops a measure of segregation based on two premises: (1) a measure of segregation should disaggregate to the level of individuals, and (2) an individual is more segregated the more segregated are the agents with whom she interacts. Developing three desirable axioms that any segregation measure should satisfy, we prove that one and only one segregation index satisfies our three axioms, and the two aims mentioned above; which we coin the Spectral Segregation Index. We apply the index to two well-studied social phenomena: residential and school segregation. We calculate the extent of residential segregation across major US cities using data from the 2000 US Census. The correlation between the Spectral index and the commonly-used dissimilarity index is .42. Using detailed data on friendship networks, available in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we calculate the prevalence of within-school racial segregation. The results suggests that the percent of minority students within a school, commonly used as a substitute for a measure of in-school segregation, is a poor proxy for social interactions.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 11258.

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Date of creation: Apr 2005
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11258

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Social Norms and Social Capital; Social Networks Economic Anthropology
C0 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Hutchens, Robert, 2001. "Numerical measures of segregation: desirable properties and their implications," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 13-29, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Ignacio Palacios-Huerta & Oscar Volij, 2002. "The Measurement of Intellectual Influence," Economic theory and game theory 015, Oscar Volij. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2001. "Moving To Opportunity In Boston: Early Results Of A Randomized Mobility Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(2), pages 607-654, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Edward P. Lazear, 1999. "Culture and Language," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages S95-S126, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Jonathan Guryan, 2001. "Desegregation and Black Dropout Rates," NBER Working Papers 8345, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 1999. "The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 455-506, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman & Lawrence F. Katz, 2005. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," NBER Working Papers 11577, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Anne C. Case & Lawrence F. Katz, 1991. "The Company You Keep: The Effects of Family and Neighborhood on Disad- vantaged Youths," NBER Working Papers 3705, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Cutler, David M & Glaeser, Edward L, 1997. "Are Ghettos Good or Bad?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(3), pages 827-72, August.
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  10. Jan K. Brueckner & Oleg Smirnov, 2004. "Workings of the Melting Pot: Social Networks and the Evolution of Population Attributes," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  11. Oscar Volij & David Frankel, 2004. "Measuring Segregation," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 210, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Roland G. Fryer & Steven D. Levitt, 2004. "The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(3), pages 767-805, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Philipson Tomas, 1993. "Social Welfare and Measurement of Segregation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 322-334, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Ethnicity, Neighborhoods, and Human-Capital Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 365-90, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Judith Hellerstein & David Neumark, 2005. "Workplace Segregation in the United States: Race, Ethnicity, and Skill," NBER Working Papers 11599, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Jacob Vigdor & Jens Ludwig, 2007. "Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap," NBER Working Papers 12988, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Giorgio Fagiolo & Marco Valente & Nicolaas J. Vriend, 2005. "Segregation in Networks," LEM Papers Series 2005/22, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Judith Hellerstein & David Neumark & Melissa McInerney, 2007. "Changes in Workplace Segregation in the United States between 1990 and 2000: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data," NBER Working Papers 13080, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Byron F. Lutz, 2005. "Post Brown vs. the Board of Education: the effects of the end of court-ordered desegregation," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2005-64, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  6. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 2007. "When Are Ghettos Bad? Lessons from Immigrant Segregation in the United States," NBER Working Papers 13082, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Frankel, David M. & Volij, Oscar, 2008. "An Axiomatization of the Multigroup Atkinson Segregation Indices," Staff General Research Papers 12902, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Olof Åslund & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2009. "How to measure segregation conditional on the distribution of covariates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 971-981, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Roland G. Fryer, Jr. & Paul Torelli, 2005. "An Empirical Analysis of 'Acting White'," NBER Working Papers 11334, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Federico Echenique & Roland G. Fryer & Alex Kaufman, 2006. "Is School Segregation Good or Bad?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 265-269, May. [Downloadable!]
  11. Åslund, Olof & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2005. "Measuring conditional segregation: methods and empirical examples," Working Paper Series 2005:12, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
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