Does School Desegregation Promote Diverse Interactions? An Equilibrium Model of Segregation within Schools

摘要

This paper analyzed racial segregation in schools, guided by an equilibrium model of network formation. The model generates segregation as an equilibrium outcome and allows me to estimate the preferences of students, which include direct effects of observables and indirect payoffs for reciprocated relationships and indirect friends. I find homophily by race, both in direct and indirect links. My specification allows homophily to vary within the fraction of the racial groups in the school: an increase in the fraction of white students decreases the propensity of white students to form links within the same racial group; the opposite holds true for Hispanics or blacks. These differences are important in understanding the effect of policies that modify the relative shares of groups in the school. There is evidence of homophily beyond direct links, thus supporting a model that includes indirect effects of linking in the preferences.