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Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 415
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Econometric Society
physical distance. Because U.S. cities are highly segregated, the time cost of interacting with a
member of another race is typically higher than the cost of interacting with a same-race friend.
The goal of this paper is to quantitatively assess the importance of this channel in explaining
why people typically interact with members of their own race. Based on external estimates of
consumers' costs of time, I simulate the frequency of cross-racial interactions that would occur
if only distance mattered in determining individuals' choice of interaction partners. I compare
the simulation results to a new measure of the actual frequency of inter-racial interactions based
on Flickr photographs. I estimate that 25-30% of social segregation for whites in the U.S. is
attributable to physical distance alone.
Urban Economics
Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM
- Chair: Minchul Shin, University of Illinois
Residential Segregation and Social Segregation by Race
Abstract
In this paper, I examine a determinant of social segregation by race in the United States:physical distance. Because U.S. cities are highly segregated, the time cost of interacting with a
member of another race is typically higher than the cost of interacting with a same-race friend.
The goal of this paper is to quantitatively assess the importance of this channel in explaining
why people typically interact with members of their own race. Based on external estimates of
consumers' costs of time, I simulate the frequency of cross-racial interactions that would occur
if only distance mattered in determining individuals' choice of interaction partners. I compare
the simulation results to a new measure of the actual frequency of inter-racial interactions based
on Flickr photographs. I estimate that 25-30% of social segregation for whites in the U.S. is
attributable to physical distance alone.
Metropolitan Land Values
Abstract
We estimate the first cross-sectional index of transaction-based land values for every U.S. metropolitan area. The index accounts for geographic selection in location, and incorporates novel shrinkage methods using a prior belief based on urban economic theory. Land values at the city center increase with city size, as do land-value gradients; both are highly variable across cities. Urban land values are estimated at 1.5 times GDP in 2006. These estimates are higher and less volatile than estimates from residual (total - structure) methods. Average values in the five most expensive metros are 35 times higher than in the five cheapest.Discussant(s)
Bruce Ian Sacerdote
,
Dartmouth College
Ricardo Perez-Truglia
,
University of California-Los Angeles
Victor Couture
,
University of California-Berkeley
JEL Classifications
- R2 - Household Analysis
- R3 - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location