Does the ethnic composition of the locality in which individuals live lead to more negative
attitudes towards minorities in England? That is one of the questions addressed by Christian
Dustmann and Ian Preston in an analysis of the effect of levels of education, unemployment
experiences, labour market conditions and local concentration of ethnic minorities on the degree
of hostility towards minority populations. Their report is published in the latest issue of the
Economic Journal.
The study is based on an analysis of the British Social Attitudes Survey for the years 1983-91. The
analysis covers the attitudes of between 3,000 and 4,000 individuals living in England and uses
four different measures of attitudes, including self-assessed prejudice, attitudes towards
individuals from minority populations in private and professional relations, and attitudes towards
race discrimination laws.
The research reveals that:
l There is no evidence of any systematic long-run association between antipathy of majority
individuals towards ethnic minorities and the immigrant composition of the local
neighbourhood.
l This may be due to the location decisions of individuals in either population offsetting any
short-run effects. Hostile individuals of the majority population are less likely to choose to
live close to minority communities, while minority individuals may move away from areas
where they encounter hostility. If this were to happen, a short-run association between
hostility and concentration might be eliminated in the long run by 'sorting'. Analysis
designed to separate short- and long-run effects is supportive of such an interpretation.
l The strongest relationship with racial prejudice is found with education. Highly educated
individuals are 10-15% less likely to express racially intolerant opinions than are
individuals with low education.
l Contrary to frequently expressed opinion, racial hostility is related neither to individuals'
experience of unemployment nor to local economic conditions.
Note for Editors: 'Attitudes to Ethnic Minorities, Ethnic Context and Location Decisions' by
Christian Dustmann and Ian Preston is published in the April 2001 issue of the Economic Journal.
The authors are Senior Lecturers in Economics at University College London, and are also
affiliated to the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS). A related paper published by the Centre for
Economic Policy Research examines 'Racial and Economic Factors in Attitudes to Immigration'.
For Further Information: contact Ian Preston on 020-7679-5836 (email: i.preston@ucl.ac.uk);
RES Media Consultant Romesh Vaitilingam on 0117-983-9770 or 07768-661095 (email:
romesh@compuserve.com); or RES Media Assistant Niall Flynn on 020-7878-2919 (email:
nflynn@cepr.org).