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Experienced Segregation

Author

Listed:
  • Susan Athey
  • Billy A. Ferguson
  • Matthew Gentzkow
  • Tobias Schmidt

Abstract

We estimate a measure of segregation, experienced isolation, that captures individuals’ exposure to diverse others in the places they visit over the course of their days. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected from smartphones, we measure experienced isolation by race. We find that the isolation individuals experience is substantially lower than standard residential isolation measures would suggest, but that experienced and residential isolation are highly correlated across cities. Experienced isolation is lower relative to residential isolation in denser, wealthier, more educated cities with high levels of public transit use, and is also negatively correlated with income mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Athey & Billy A. Ferguson & Matthew Gentzkow & Tobias Schmidt, 2020. "Experienced Segregation," NBER Working Papers 27572, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27572
    Note: IO LS PE POL
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    File URL: http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/experienced_segregation.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Keith Chen & Kareem Haggag & Devin G. Pope & Ryne Rohla, 2022. "Racial Disparities in Voting Wait Times: Evidence from Smartphone Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1341-1350, November.
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    5. Rebecca Diamond & Tim McQuade & Franklin Qian, 2019. "The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3365-3394, September.
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    7. Carrington, William J & Troske, Kenneth R, 1997. "On Measuring Segregation in Samples with Small Units," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 15(4), pages 402-409, October.
    8. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Patrick Kline & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1553-1623.
    9. Donald R. Davis & Jonathan I. Dingel & Joan Monras & Eduardo Morales, 2019. "How Segregated Is Urban Consumption?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(4), pages 1684-1738.
    10. M. Keith Chen & Ryne Rohla, 2017. "The Effect of Partisanship and Political Advertising on Close Family Ties," Papers 1711.10602, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2018.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Aaronson & Joel Kaiyuan Han & Daniel A. Hartley & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2025. "The lasting impact of historical residential security maps on experienced segregation," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 53(1), pages 134-163, January.
    2. Kirchberger, Martina, 2021. "Measuring internal migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Couture, Victor & Dingel, Jonathan I. & Green, Allison & Handbury, Jessie & Williams, Kevin R., 2022. "JUE Insight: Measuring movement and social contact with smartphone data: a real-time application to COVID-19," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General

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