Empirics of Strategic Interdependence: The Case of the Racial Tipping Point

Easterly, William

doi:10.2139/ssrn.507382

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Empirics of Strategic Interdependence: The Case of the Racial Tipping Point

William Easterly

New York University - Department of Economics

February 2004

NYU Development Research Working Paper No. 5

Abstract:
The Schelling model of a "tipping point" in racial segregation, in which whites flee a neighborhood in large numbers once a threshold of nonwhites is reached, is a canonical model of strategic interdependence. Moreover, the idea of "tipping" explaining segregation is widely accepted in the academic literature and popular media. I use census tract data for metropolitan areas of the US from 1970 to 2000 to test the predictions of the Schelling model and find that this particular model of strategic interaction largely fails the tests. There is more "white flight" out of neighborhoods with a high initial share of whites than out of more racially mixed neighborhoods.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 46

Keywords: strategic interdependence, racial segregation, inequality, economic development

JEL Classification: J15, J71, O10, R21

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Date posted: February 27, 2004

Suggested Citation

Easterly, William, Empirics of Strategic Interdependence: The Case of the Racial Tipping Point (February 2004). NYU Development Research Working Paper No. 5. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=507382 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.507382

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William Easterly (Contact Author)

New York University - Department of Economics ( email )

269 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10003
United States