Title

Tipping and the Dynamics of Segregation in Neighborhoods and Schools

Author(s)

David Card David Card (UC Berkeley)

Alexandre Mas Alexandre Mas (UC Berkeley)

Jesse Rothstein Jesse Rothstein (Princeton University)

Abstract

In a classic paper, Schelling (1971) showed that extreme segregation can arise from social interactions in preferences: once the minority share in a neighborhood exceeds a "tipping point", all the whites leave. We use regression discontinuity methods and Census tract data from the past four decades to test for the presence of discrete non-linearities in the dynamics of neighborhood racial composition. White mobility patterns in most cities exhibit tipping-like behavior, with a range of tipping points centered around a 13% minority share. These patterns are very pronounced during the 1970s and 1980s, and diminish but do not disappear in the 1990s. We find similar dynamic patterns in neighborhoods and in schools. A variety of specification checks rule out the possibility that the discontinuity in the initial minority share is driven by income stratification or other factors, and underscore the importance of white preferences over neighbors' race and ethnicity in the dynamic process of segregation. Finally, we relate the location of the estimated tipping points in different cities to measures of the racial attitudes of whites, and find that cities with more racially tolerant whites have higher tipping points.

Creation Date

2006-10

Section URL ID

ERS

Paper Number

17a

URL

https://dataspace.princeton.edu/bitstream/88435/dsp01c821gj81p/4/17aersrevised.pdf

File Function

Jel

J15, A29

Keyword(s)

Suppress

false

Series

2