Age at arrival and residential integration
In this project, we study whether immigrant children who arrive at earlier ages in Sweden live in better neighbourhoods in adulthood. More specifically, we analyse the extent to which age at immigration affects neighbourhood composition along two dimensions: i) ethnic composition, measured as the share of natives, defined as individuals born in Sweden, and ii) socio-economic composition, measured via three variables: the share of high-earners, the share of highly-educated individuals, and the share on welfare.
We focus on refugees. We hypothesize that the younger refugees are upon arrival, the more time they have to build country-specific knowledge, including language and culture, and to forge social contacts with the native majority, which may affect both their preferences for certain kinds of neighbourhoods and their ability to act upon those preferences. We assess to what extent these are likely channels through a decomposition exercise.