The selective inflow and outflow of residents of different ethnic groups is the main mechanism behind ethnic residential segregation. In many studies it has been found that ethnic minorities are more likely than others to move to high-ethnic-minority concentration neighborhoods. An important question which remains largely unanswered is whether this can be explained by own-group effects, including own-group preferences, or by other neighborhood factors. We use unique longitudinal register data from the Netherlands, which allow us to distinguish between different ethnic minority groups and simultaneously to take into account multiple neighborhood characteristics. This allows us to test own-group effects—the effect of the share of the own-ethnic group on neighborhood selection—while also taking into account other neighborhood characteristics such as housing market composition. Using a conditional logit model, we find that housing-market constraints can partly explain the moves of ethnic minorities to high-ethnic-minority-concentration neighborhoods: own-group effects are also found to be important in explaining neighborhood selection. There are, however, important differences between ethnic minority groups. While these effects together explain why Surinamese and Antilleans move to high-ethnic-minority-concentration neighborhoods, Turks and Moroccans are still found to move to neighborhoods with concentrations of minorities other than their own ethnic group.

Ethnic residential segregation is caused by the selective mobility of ethnic groups into and out of specific neighborhoods and in-situ demographic processes regarding fertility and mortality. Selective mobility can be caused by choice, but a lack of choice can also cause selective-mobility patterns. There is a large body of research on selective outflow from neighborhood’s and especially ‘white flight’ (see, for example, Feijten and Van Ham, 2009; Pais et al, 2009; Van Ham and Clark, 2009). In this paper we study selective inflow into neighborhoods, which has received somewhat less attention. Existing research shows that ethnic minority households are more likely than others to move to high-ethnic-minority concentration (hereafter, minority-concentration) neighborhoods (Clark and Led with, 2007; Doff, 2010; South and Crowder, 1998). This might be explained by own-group effects: ethnic minorities might live among others of their own-group because of own group preferences; because they want to live close to ethnic-specific facilities; or because of the ethnic-specific networks they use to find dwellings. Interestingly, most studies investigating ethnic-selective residential mobility look at ethnic minorities as a single homogeneous group whereas in reality this group is often very heterogeneous. While ethnic minorities might have a preference to live among their own ethnic group, it is less likely that they will prefer to live among other ethnic minorities.