RT Journal Article
T1 A stochastic approach for quantifying immigrant integration: the Spanish test case
A1 Agliari, Elena
A1 Barra, Adriano
A1 Contucci, Pierluigi
A1 Sandell, Frank Rickard
A1 Vernia, Cecilia
AB We apply stochastic process theory to the analysis of immigrant integration.Using a unique and detailed data set from Spain, we study the relationshipbetween local immigrant density and two social and two economic immigrationquantifiers for the period 1999–2010. As opposed to the classic time-seriesapproach, by letting immigrant density play the role of ‘time’ and the quantifierthe role of ‘space,’ it becomes possible to analyse the behavior of the quantifiersby means of continuous time random walks. Two classes of results are thenobtained. First, we show that social integration quantifiers evolve followingdiffusion law, while the evolution of economic quantifiers exhibits ballisticdynamics. Second, we make predictions of best- and worst-case scenarios takinginto account large local fluctuations. Our stochastic process approach to integrationlends itself to interesting forecasting scenarios which, in the hands ofpolicy makers, have the potential to improve political responses to integrationproblems. For instance, estimating the standard first-passage time and maximum-span walk reveals local differences in integration performance fordifferent immigration scenarios. Thus, by recognizing the importance of localfluctuations around national means, this research constitutes an important tool toassess the impact of immigration phenomena on municipal budgets and to set upsolid multi-ethnic plans at the municipal level as immigration pressures build
PB IOP Publishing
SN 1367-2630
YR 2014
FD 2014-10-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10016/34994
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10016/34994
LA eng
NO This work is supported by the FIRB grants RBFR08EKEV and RBFR10N90W. EA and AB acknowledge also partial financial support by GNFM-(INdAM) via Progetto Giovani 2013 (AB) and 2014 (EA). RS is grateful to the project Competition, Adaptation and Labour-Market Attainment of International Migrants in Europe (CALMA)? granted by the VI National Plan for Scientific Research, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CSO2012-38521), for partial financial support.
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RD 24 may. 2024