IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/inrsre/v46y2023i3p328-353.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Individual Level Method for Improved Estimation of Ethnic Characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Tian Lan
  • Paul A. Longley

Abstract

This paper develops an improved method for estimating the ethnicity of individuals based on individual level pairings of given and family names. It builds upon previous research by using a global database of names from c. 1.7 billion living individuals, supplemented by individual level historical census data. In focusing upon Great Britain, these resources enable, respectively, greater precision in estimating probable global origins and better estimation of self-identification amongst long-established family groups such as the Irish Diaspora. We report on geographic issues in adjusting the weighting of groups that are systematically under- or over-predicted using other methods. Our individual level estimates are evaluated using both small area Great Britain census data for 2011 and individual level data for asylum seekers in Canada between 1995 and 2012. Our conclusions assess the value of such estimates in the conduct of social equity audits and in depicting the social mobility outcomes of residential mobility and migration across Great Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Tian Lan & Paul A. Longley, 2023. "An Individual Level Method for Improved Estimation of Ethnic Characteristics," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 46(3), pages 328-353, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:46:y:2023:i:3:p:328-353
    DOI: 10.1177/01600176221116568
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01600176221116568
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/01600176221116568?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Felix Ritchie, 2008. "Secure access to confidential microdata: four years of the Virtual Microdata Laboratory," Economic & Labour Market Review, Palgrave Macmillan;Office for National Statistics, vol. 2(5), pages 29-34, May.
    2. Guy Lansley & Wen Li & Paul A. Longley, 2019. "Creating a linked consumer register for granular demographic analysis," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 182(4), pages 1587-1605, October.
    3. Justin T. van Dijk & Guy Lansley & Paul A. Longley, 2021. "Using linked consumer registers to estimate residential moves in the United Kingdom," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(4), pages 1452-1474, October.
    4. Gregory Clark & Neil Cummins, 2015. "Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in England, 1858–2012: Surnames and Social Mobility," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(582), pages 61-85, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul A. Longley & Justin Dijk & Tian Lan, 2021. "The geography of intergenerational social mobility in Britain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Korom, Philipp, 2016. "Inherited advantage: The importance of inheritance for private wealth accumulation in Europe," MPIfG Discussion Paper 16/11, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    3. Yuzuru Kumon & Mohamed Saleh, 2023. "The Middle‐Eastern marriage pattern? Malthusian dynamics in nineteenth‐century Egypt," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1231-1258, November.
    4. Simon Halphen Boserup & Wojciech Kopczuk & Claus Thustrup Kreiner, 2018. "Born with a Silver Spoon? Danish Evidence on Wealth Inequality in Childhood," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(612), pages 514-544, July.
    5. Bamieh, Omar & Cintolesi, Andrea, 2021. "Intergenerational transmission in regulated professions and the role of familism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 857-879.
    6. Stefan Bender, 2014. "Datenzugang in Deutschland: Der Paradigmenwechsel hat bereits stattgefunden," AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv, Springer;Deutsche Statistische Gesellschaft - German Statistical Society, vol. 8(4), pages 237-248, November.
    7. Stefano Gagliarducci & Marco Manacorda, 2020. "Politics in the Family: Nepotism and the Hiring Decisions of Italian Firms," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 67-95, April.
    8. Cummins, Neil, 2025. "The causal effects of education on age at marriage and marital fertility," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126514, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Giacomin Favre & Joël Floris & Ulrich Woitek, 2018. "Intergenerational mobility in the 19th century: micro-level evidence from the city of Zurich," ECON - Working Papers 274, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    10. Dayanandan, Ajit & Donker, Han & Nofsinger, John, 2019. "The role of caste for board membership, CEO, and interlocking," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 29-41.
    11. Adrian Adermon & Mikael Lindahl & Mårten Palme, 2021. "Dynastic Human Capital, Inequality, and Intergenerational Mobility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1523-1548, May.
    12. Marianna Belloc & Francesco Drago & Mattia Fochesato & Roberto Galbiati, 2024. "Multigenerational Transmission of Wealth: Florence, 1403–1480," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 99-129, April.
    13. Thomas Abhayaratna & Andrew Carter & Shane Johnson, 2022. "The ATO Longitudinal Information Files (ALife): Individuals—A New Dataset for Public Policy Research," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 55(4), pages 541-557, December.
    14. Sandra E Black & Paul J Devereux & Petter Lundborg & Kaveh Majlesi, 2020. "Poor Little Rich Kids? The Role of Nature versus Nurture in Wealth and Other Economic Outcomes and Behaviours," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(4), pages 1683-1725.
    15. Dupraz, Yannick & Ferrara, Andreas, 2021. "Fatherless: The Long-Term Effects of Losing a Father in the U.S. Civil War," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 538, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    16. Chu, Luke Yu-Wei & Lin, Ming-Jen, 2016. "Economic development and intergenerational earnings mobility: Evidence from Taiwan," Working Paper Series 19495, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    17. Jo Blanden & Andrew Eyles & Stephen Machin, 2023. "Intergenerational home ownership," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 21(2), pages 251-275, June.
    18. Bautista, María Angélica & Gonzalez, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of College: Evidence from the 1973 Coup in Chile," SocArXiv eyw2a, Center for Open Science.
    19. Shiue, Carol, 2019. "Social Mobility in the Long Run: A Temporal Analysis of China from 1300 to 1900," CEPR Discussion Papers 13589, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Arunachalam, Raj & Shenoy, Ajay, 2017. "Poverty traps, convergence, and the dynamics of household income," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 215-230.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:46:y:2023:i:3:p:328-353. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.