heterogeneity

[Doug Henwood]

"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.