heterogeneity

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Wed Sep 1 08:41:40 PDT 1999


"Participation in Heterogeneous Communities"

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.



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