BY: ELIANA LA FERRARA
Bocconi University (IGIER)
ALBERTO ALESINA
Harvard University
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
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Paper ID: Bocconi University, IGIER Working Paper Series No. 151
Date: June 1999
Contact: ELIANA LA FERRARA
Email: Mailto:eliana.laferrara at uni-bocconi.it
Postal: Bocconi University (IGIER)
Via Salasco, 5
20136 Milano, ITALY
Phone: 0039-0258363328
Fax: 0039-0258363302
Co-Auth: ALBERTO ALESINA
Email: Mailto:aalesina at harvard.edu
Postal: Harvard University
Department of Economics
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Paper Requests:
Contact: Alessandra Startari, IGIER Universita Bocconi, via
Salasco 5, 20136 Milano, Italy. Phone:+39-02-5836.3301.
Fax:+39-02-5836.3302. Mailto:alessandra.startari at uni-bocconi.it
ABSTRACT:
This paper studies both theoretically and empirically the
determinants of group formation and of the degree of
participation when the population is heterogeneous, both in
terms of income and race or ethncity. We are especially
interested in whether and how much the degree of heterogeneity
in communities infuences the amount of participation in
different types of groups. Using survey data on group membership
and data on US localities, we find that, after controlling for
many individual characteristics, participation in social
activities is significatively lower in more unequal and in more
racially or ethnically fragmented localities. We also find that
those individuals who express views against racial mixing are
less prone to participate in groups the more racially
heterogeneous their community is.