The effect of community-level socio-economic conditions on threatening racial encounters

Arbeitspapier

This paper contributes to the emerging literature on racial and ethnic tension by analyzing the relationship between local socio-economic conditions and the propensity for outsiders to have threatening racial encounters with insiders. We use unique data for a sample of active-duty Army personnel that allow us to first, link personnel to the local communities in which they are located and second, to avoid any selectivity bias associated with endogenous community selection. We find at best mixed evidence that racial hostility is related to economic vulnerability within a community and no evidence that racial conflict can be linked to the level of public expenditure. Crime rates, however, are closely related to the incidence of threatening racial encounters and while a community's demographic profile is also clearly linked to racial tension, these relationships cannot be easily generalized across minority groups or type of threatening racial encounter.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 3828

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
• Subject: Racial and ethnic tension ; U.S. military ; economics of minorities ; Ethnische Beziehungen ; Stadtsoziologie ; Kommunale Wirtschaftsentwicklung ; Städtische Bevölkerungsstruktur ; Kriminalität ; USA

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Antecol, Heather ; Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2008

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/35542
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-20081127570
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET