ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that a longitudinal perspective also provides substantial insights. It describes the longitudinal data to analyze to what extent people's attitudes toward immigration change when they move to a more diverse neighborhood. It also explores longitudinal data to analyze residential mobility across neighborhoods with different levels of ethnic diversity. The difference-in-difference (DID) design controls for all unobserved heterogeneity between individuals, which enables us to isolate the effect of moving from possible confounding factors. Irrespective of the particular indicator of social cohesion, one should keep in mind that a change in diversity because of moving is not the same as a changing neighborhood composition. Dinesen and Sonderskov use longitudinal data to predict the effect of ethnic diversity on generalized trust in municipalities in Denmark. Individuals moving from diversity to very high diversity are more accustomed to diversity and might see the increase in diversity as an opportunity for further intergroup contact.
