【摘要】In recent decades, the large influx of immigrants to the U.S. and other developed countries has made cities in these countries more ethnically diverse. In this paper, I aim to understand whether and how ethnic diversity affects communities in these cities. A general equilibrium model is built in which people of many ethnic groups interact in the housing market through both price signals and non-market mechanisms. An endogenous correlation between neighborhood house price and the Herfindahl index of ethnic concentration arises because of social interactions. After addressing the endogeneity issue, I find that neighborhoods with more homogeneous minority populations command higher prices using a dataset of housing transactions and neighborhood socio-economic characteristics in Vancouver, Canada. This and other findings support the notion that non-market social interactions influence people's preference and behavior.

【关键词】Ethnic diversity; Housing; Neighborhood choice

【文献来源】Qiang Li.Regional Science and Urban Economics.2014（9）