Ethnic switching: Longitudinal evidence on prevalence, correlates, and implications for measuring ethnic segregation

Robbert Rademakers and André van Hoorn

Journal of Development Economics, 2021, vol. 152, issue C

Abstract: Ethnic divisions are prominent in many countries and associated with various societal ills, ranging from discrimination to violence and intra-state conflict. Commonly seen as exogenous, individuals' ethnicity is not necessarily fixed or unmalleable, however. We first use individual-level panel data for Indonesia, the U.S. and India, to document the prevalence of generic, undirected intra-individual ethnicity change. Second, we focus on potential correlates of ethnic switching and find that ethnic switching is predictable and follows logical patterns. By zooming in on individuals’ choices to switch to a specific ethnicity, we similarly find strong evidence that such directed ethnic switching occurs systematically and is guided by deliberate individual decision making. Third, considering potential implications of endogenous ethnicity, we find that ethnic switching can severely inflate official numbers on ethnic segregation, specifically on marital endogamy. We conclude that ethnic switching is real and highly relevant for the study of ethnic diversity and segregation.

Keywords: Intra-individual ethnicity change; Ethnic boundaries; Ethnic crossing; Intermarriage; Post-marital residence norms; Racial fluidity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J15 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387821000717
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:152:y:2021:i:c:s0304387821000717

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102694

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Economics is currently edited by M. R. Rosenzweig

More articles in Journal of Development Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().