Working Paper: NBER ID: w31434
Authors: Leah Platt Boustan; Christine Cai; Tammy Tseng
Abstract: Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the US but we know little about how Asian immigration has affected cities, neighborhoods and schools. This paper studies white flight from Asian arrivals in high-socioeconomic-status Californian school districts from 2000-2016 using initial settlement patterns and national immigrant flows to instrument for entry. We find that, as Asian students arrive, white student enrollment declines in higher-income suburbs. These patterns cannot be fully explained by racial animus, housing prices, or correlations with Black/Hispanic arrivals. Parental fears of academic competition may play a role.
Keywords: Asian immigration; white flight; California schools; socioeconomic status; public education
JEL Codes: R23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increase in Asian student enrollment (I24) | Decline in white student enrollment (I24) |
| Arrival of Asian students (N95) | White families leaving (J12) |
| Arrival of Asian students (N95) | Test score gains for overall student body (I24) |
| Arrival of Asian students (N95) | No enhancement of test scores for white students (I24) |