Beyond the Melting Pot: Cultural Transmission, Marriage, and the Evolution of Ethnic and Religious Traits

Alberto Bisin () and Thierry A. Verdier ()

DELTA Working Papers from DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure)

Abstract: This paper presents an economic analysis of the intergenerational transmission of ethnic and religious traits through family socialization and marital segregation decisions. Frequency of intra-group marriage (homogamy), as well as socialization rates of religious and ethnic groups, depend on the group's share of the population : minority groups search more intensely for homogamous mates, and spend more resources to socialize their offspring. This pattern generally induces a dynamics of the distribution of ethnic and religious traits which converges to a culturally heterogeneous stationary population. Existing empirical evidence bearing directly and indirectly on the implications of the model is discussed.

Date: 1999
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Published in Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2000, 3, pp. 955-988.

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Related works:
Working Paper: Beyond the Melting Pot: Cultural Transmission, Marriage, and the Evolution of Ethnic and Religious Traits (1999)
Journal Article: "Beyond The Melting Pot": Cultural Transmission, Marriage, And The Evolution Of Ethnic And Religious Traits (2000)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:del:abcdef:1999-10

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