Exposure to diversity and the social integration of ethnic minorities: evidence from exogamic partnerships

Over recent decades, there has been substantial immigration to many Western countries, including Sweden. This has resulted in increasingly multicultural societies and integration of immigrants has become prominent in the public debate. While discussions have often centred around the labour market and schools, social integration is key for social cohesion. In this project, we focus on family relationships, which are a key marker of openness between different groups. We aim to study ethnic endogamy among different immigrant groups and natives and
analyse how it is affected by segregation in neighbourhoods, schools and workplaces. We will describe how endogamy has developed over time, and analyse whether society has tended toward greater openness. We want to understand to what extent endogamy is the result of limited exposure to other groups, and to what extent it is caused by individuals' preferences for partners with similar cultural backgrounds.

We will conduct three work packages where we aim to answer these questions using detailed, geo-coded register data, as well as historical censuses. We will apply quantitative methods and descriptive and quasi-experimental approaches which will allow us to characterise changes over time and to conduct causal inference. We plan to work on these projects for three years. The project is of high social relevance and will inform the understanding of the link between residential, school and workplace segregation and social integration.

Project start

2026-01-01

Funding

The Swedish Research Council

Researchers

Yaroslav Yakymovych, Researcher in Economics, IBF (Project Leader)
Andreas Diemer, Researcher in Economic Geography, Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS)