Determinants of Residential Segregation and Locational Attainments: Implications of Discrete Choice Model
Abstract
Over the years, sociologists and demographers have proposed several segregation theories to explain the dynamics of residential segregation: (1) Discriminatory practices, (2) Social distance and preference dynamics, and (3) group differences of social resources and status. However, the debate over which factors contribute to residential attainments - and the extent to which they do so- remains unsettled. This study will investigate how multiple factors, including individual and household characteristics and also the attributes of neighborhoods of residence, contribute to sorting individuals across neighborhoods and the implications for segregation dynamics. Specifically, it addresses the following questions: (1) Can discrimination theoretical perspectives adequately explain sorting between individual race and neighborhood racial composition? (2) Can differences and distributions in social characteristics and acculturation adequately explain residential outcomes? (3) Do people choose a certain neighborhood due to racial or non-racial factors? (4) Can we distinguish between the importance of different neighborhood characteristics – racial composition, income level, etc. for residential sorting?
To address these questions, I use conditional logit models to estimate mechanisms of residential sorting based on associations between household characteristics and neighborhood attributes. The data source comes from the restricted 100% count IPUMS files, one of the few available data sets that can sustain conditional logit analyses for an individual metropolitan area. This dissertation will study San Antonio, TX, and Sacramento, CA. I will first estimate the residential contact with whites of different racial and ethnic groups by assimilation types. I next estimate the in-group and out-group contact between the majority and the racial/ethnic minorities.
The results of my analyses suggest that preference perspectives play a very important role in constructing and sustaining segregation patterns. Spatial assimilation does not always apply to all racial and ethnic minorities. That means erasing group differences does not necessarily promote integration. White’s aversion to minorities and in-group contact within each group may still cause segregation at some levels. I also find that racial proxy hypothesis weakly describes the process of households sorting into neighborhoods with higher income level, but that it is more relevant only when households decide where to buy or rent a real estate property. In other cases, however, race sorting is more pronounced.
Citation
Zou, Xinyuan (2020). Determinants of Residential Segregation and Locational Attainments: Implications of Discrete Choice Model. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /192225.