Residential Segregation and Precarious Employment in Urban Mexico

Landy Sanchez, University of Wisconsin at Madison

Sociological studies suggested that Mexican metropolises are characterized by lower levels of socio-economic residential segregation than we could expect given their unequal income distribution. Data from the 2000 census supports this argument in the case of Guadalajara, the second largest Mexican city: the Index of Dissimilarity and Index of Exposure are low. It is well known, however, that they are not sensitive to spatial distribution of poverty – the checkerboard problem. This paper analyzes the spatial patterns of poverty and wealth in Guadalajara using Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, showing clear differences in the socio-economic composition of city areas, and suggesting higher levels of segregation than those pointed by the Indices. In addition, I analyze the association between residential segregation and precarious employment using spatial regression models. They suggest the presence of spatial autocorrelation between geographical units, a process that could be partially explained by historical patterns of urban growth.