Social integration of immigrants in cities: theory and evidence from the European Social Survey

Abstract We develop a model of social integration of immigrants in which both native individuals and immigrants decide whether to accept each other’s culture and norms. Whereas cultural acceptance leads to greater returns due to agglomeration economies, it also requires higher communication costs. We show conditions under which higher social integration of immigrants occurs in large cities and characterize the efficiency of an equilibrium. Our findings are supported by data from the European Social Survey.