Economic inequality and economic segregation: a systematic review of causal pathways

Although economic inequality and economic segregation represent fundamental challenges ofcontemporary societies, their causal and empirical connections remain unclear. In particular, thedirection of causality, causal pathways, and temporal relationship are not apparent in the literature.This stems from two observations: 1/ the discussion is dominated by a handful of studies from theUSA originating from the 2000s. This comes at the expense of a more plural and complexunderstanding of phenomena in the rest of the world. 2/ the literature on inequality and that ofsegregation are segmented by disciplines operating at different scales with corresponding theories,actors and mechanisms. To address these issues, I conduct an extensive systematic literature reviewof articles linking economic inequality to economic segregation across multiple languages anddisciplines. Starting from 20,000+ references, I identify 80 research articles. Most conclude thatvariations in economic segregation follow differences in economic inequality in the short term andthat reverse causality is more probable in the longer term. The housing market is the most citedmediator between economic inequality and economic segregation, and a diversity of theories aremobilized to explain their empirical connections. Many articles are not presently comparable, butcompatible definitions and measurements of inequality and segregation are rising.