Few studies have investigated the specific features implicated in neighborhood-health associations. We examined associations between measures of neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion with depression, smoking, drinking, and walking for exercise in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort. Neighborhoods were characterized according to participant self-report and ag...

The present study explored whether perceived neighborhood environmental attributes associated with physical activity differ by neighborhood income. Adults aged 20-65 years (n=2199; 48% female; mean age=45 years; 26% ethnic minority) were recruited from 32 neighborhoods from the Seattle, WA and Baltimore, MD regions that varied in objectively measured walkability and neighborhood income. Perceiv...

There is a great deal of variation in levels of violent crime across communities of different colors in urban neighborhoods throughout the United States. This variation is seen in rates of violence that are much higher in predominantly minority neighborhoods, especially those comprised of blacks, compared to predominantly white neighborhoods. This Article addresses the question of how to accoun...

BACKGROUND Differences in availability of recreational resources may contribute to racial and socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in physical activity. Variations in the location and density of recreational resources were examined by SES and racial composition of neighborhoods. METHODS Densities of resources available in recreational facilities and parks were estimated for census tracts be...

This paper is about ethnic identity. We first develop a model of an individual’s identity as resulting from the interaction of the individual’s identity choice, cultural transmission and socialization inside the family, peer effects and social interactions. We then put the model to data using the UK Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities. We show that the main determinants of the intensity...

It is possible to partially order cities according to the informativeness of neighborhoods about their ethnic groups. It is also possible to partially order cities with two ethnic groups according to the Lorenz criterion. We show that a segregation order satisfies four well-established segregation principles if and only if it is consistent with the informativeness criterion. We then use this re...

Racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to use higher-quality hospitals than whites. We propose that a higher level of information-related complexity in their local hospital environments compounds the effects of discrimination and more limited access to services, contributing to racial/ethnic disparities in hospital use. While minorities live closer than whites to high-volume hospitals, minori...

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a poor prognosis and, unlike most cancers, HCC incidence and mortality rates are increasing in the United States. While risk is known to vary among different racial and ethnic groups, less is known about the variability of risk within these groups by neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS HCC cases diagnosed in the Surveillance, Epidemio...

Social Insurance Networks Based on administrative panel data from Norway, we examine how social insurance dependency spreads within neighborhoods, families, ethnic minorities, and among former schoolmates. We use a fixed effects methodology that accounts for endogenous group formation, contextual interactions, and time-constant as well as time-varying confounders. We report evidence that social...

This paper examines the contribution of neighborhood and maternal characteristics to birthweight differentials among infants born to non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, and Mexican-origin Hispanic mothers (of any race). Linear regression models with neighborhood fixed effects were estimated using birth certificate records for all births in Chicago from 1990. About 30 percent of the black/wh...