Mel, Angelo
Does school desegregation promote diverse interactions: An equilibrium model of segregation within schools
- American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
- 12(2), May, 2020: p.228-257
This paper studies racial segregation in schools using data on student friendships from Add Health. I estimate an equilibrium model of friendship formation, with preferences allowing both homophily and heterophily in direct and indirect ties. I find that homophily goes beyond direct links: students also prefer racially homogeneous indirect friends, while there is heterophily in income. I simulate policies reallocating students across schools. Race-based policies have nonlinear effects on within-school segregation and other network features such as clustering and centrality. Policies increasing diversity through reallocations based on income have less impact on racial segregation. – Reproduced