There Goes the Neighborhood: Does Tipping Behavior exist among Income Groups?.
Malone, Thomas.
2013
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Abstract: The segregation models of Schelling (1969) stand as a cornerstone
for understanding how people arrange themselves in space and how such arrangements can be
inherently unstable. Extensions of such `tipping' models concerning race have been the
subject of much empirical testing, most notably in Card, Mas and Rothstein (2008). However,
little attention has been paid to whether or not si... read moremilar unstable spatial arrangements
occur between income groups when considered separately from race. I propose a model in
which social interaction effects lead to lower income groups causing tipping behavior
amongst higher income groups. Using US census data normalized to the tract level from
1970-2000, I uncover compelling evidence for tipping behavior amongst income groups. It is
particularly strong for people below/above the 25th percentile of income where tipping
points range between 10 and 35 percent. When the proportion of people below the 25th
percentile in a neighborhood becomes larger than said tipping point I estimate that the
expected decrease in those above the 25th percentile in the neighborhood will be between 10
and 25 percent. Such estimates are robust to the possibilities of these simply being racial
tipping points misinterpreted as tipping points for income groups and of the tipping
point's fuzzy nature (non-linear relationships being interpreted as
discontinuities).
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2013.
Submitted to the Dept. of Economics.
Advisor: Jeff Zabel.
Committee: Jeff Zabel, and Yannis Ioannides.
Keywords: Economics, and Sociology.read less - ID:
- 4m90f637f
- Component ID:
- tufts:21954
- To Cite:
- DCA Citation Guide EndNote
