The Social Effects of Ethnic Diversity at the Local Level: A Natural Experiment with Exogenous Residential Allocation

2016/05/04 by Yann Algan, Camille Hémet, David D. Laitin · 4 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Anomie #Apartment #Culture, Economy, and Development Studies #Diversity (politics) #Ethnic group #Law #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Political science #Psychology #Social psychology #Sociology #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

paper · doi:10.1086/686010

openalex publication_date 2016/05/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Relying on diversity measures computed at the apartment block level under conditions of exogenous allocation of public housing in France, this paper identifies the effects of ethnic diversity on social relationships and housing quality. Housing Survey data reveal that diversity induces social anomie. Through the channel of anomie, diversity accounts for the inability of residents to sanction others for vandalism and to act collectively to demand proper building maintenance. However, anomie also lowers opportunities for violent confrontations, which are not related to diversity.

Citations

• Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity
• E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty‐first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture
• Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital
• Public Goods and Ethnic Divisions
• The Political Salience of Cultural Difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas Are Allies in Zambia and Adversaries in Malawi
• Ethnic Diversity and Economic Performance

Cited by

• Ethnic networks can foster the economic integration of refugees
• When Coethnicity Fails
• Racial Segregation and Southern Lynching
• Immigration [wikipedia]

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