Residential mobility and ethnic segregation in Stockholm

Abstract

Social science research has been concerned with various aspects of residential segregation and why aggregate patterns of segregation emerge and become established in urban areas. This thesis aims at gaining a deeper understanding of which mechanisms influence patterns of residential segregation by examining people’s mobility behavior. People’s residential mobility behavior is a crucial factor for understanding outcomes of segregation on the aggregate level. By both including individual and neighborhood characteristics in the analysis, more insight is gained in how ethnic and socioeconomic compositions of neighborhoods affect individuals’ mobility decisions. Swedish register data from 1990-2006 is used to estimate neighborhood choice models for the greater Stockholm area. The results show that individuals are likely to choose neighborhoods in which the population is similar to themselves, regarding both migrant background and income. The analyses also find some limited support for mechanisms of native-flight and avoidance when looking at Swedes’ mobility behavior. Nevertheless, economic resources seem to be of more relative importance for Swedes' and immigrants' neighborhood choice than the percentage of migrant groups living in a neighborhood.