The unintended consequences of well-intended measures? Swedish list of vulnerable areas and the impact of stigma on internal migration

Juta Kawalerowicz , Stockholm University

This project examines the impact that receiving a vulnerable area designation (utsatta områden) has on the flows of residents between the neighborhoods in Sweden. The vulnerable area designation was created by the Swedish Police Authority in 2015 with the intention of alleviating some of the negative effects of residential segregation and with an aim to focus resources on improving conditions in areas with most socio-economic challenges. In this study we attempt to examine if stigma association with neighborhoods being on the list has an effect on migration in and out of these areas. We use Swedish register data which includes residential coordinates on 100-meter grid, the methods used include staggered difference-in-difference analysis on neighborhood out-migration and in-migration rates as well as planned individual level analysis of residential mobility patterns. Results on neighborhood level reveal that while out-migration rates do not seem to be affected by the introduction of the policy, for treated neighborhoods (those on the list) there seems to be a slight increase in in-migration rates. Further tests will reveal which groups contribute the most to this increase and how this changed the composition of vulnerable neighborhoods in Sweden.

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 Presented in Session 37. Internal Migration and Urbanization