This paper
examines the relationships between the residential choices
of individuals and aggregate patterns of neighborhood
change. We investigate the conditions under which
individuals’ preferences for the race-ethnic composition of
their neighborhoods produce high levels of segregation.
Using computational models, we find that high levels of
segregation occur only when individuals’ preferences follow
a threshold function. If individuals make finer-grained
distinctions among neighborhoods that vary in racial
composition, preferences alone do not lead to segregation.
Vignette data from the Detroit Area Study and the Multi-City
Study of Urban Inequality indicate that individuals respond
in a continuous way to variations in the racial makeup of
neighborhoods rather than to a threshold. Our findings
suggest that race preferences alone are insufficient to
account for the high levels of segregation observed in
American cities.
