Discussion paper

DP19904 Demographic Preferences and Income Segregation

We investigate whether demographic preferences explain income segregation in shared spaces. To distinguish preferences over demographic composition from preferences over other venue characteristics, we study venue choices within business chains. We find two notable regularities: preferences for high-income co-patrons are similar across racial groups, and racial homophily does not vary by income. These demographic preferences are economically large, explain much of the cross-group variation in exposure to high-income co-patrons, and correlate with movers' neighborhood choices.

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Citation

Couture, V, J Dingel, A Green and J Handbury (2025), ‘DP19904 Demographic Preferences and Income Segregation‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 19904. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp19904