Terje Wessel
Biographic Data
| ID | 375281 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Terje Wessel |
| GIVEN NAMES | Terje |
| FAMILY NAME | Wessel |
| SIGNATURE | WESSEL T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oslo |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9228-8050 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 227 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
A comparative study of socio-economic segregation in European capital city-regions
Previous research based on 2001 and 2011 census data indicated rising levels of residential segregation between socio-economic groups in many large city-regions in Europe as well as globally. Rising segregation is an important societal concern, as place of residence plays a crucial role in shaping access to urban opportunities. Residential isolation can be especially harmful for the most vulnerable groups. Income inequality was identified as the …
The geography of intergenerational mobility in Norway
We investigate intergenerational income mobility across labor market regions in Norway, looking at gender differences in response to industrial diversity. Our identification strategy exploits variation in the timing of regional migration, measured over the age spans 6−19 and 13−19 years. We make extensive use of fixed effects so that each region only affects adult outcomes, measured as income rank, through differences in exposure time. Our result…
Urban residence as a driver of wealth differentials
We investigate theoretically and empirically how urban residence contributes to interpersonal differentials in wealth accumulation trajectories through its interrelated influences on labour and housing market outcomes. On the basis of Norwegian register data, we estimate models of one's position in various national wealth distributions over the 2010–2018 period, employing fixed‐effects to reduce geographic selection bias and obtain plausibly caus…
Homeowner-renter wealth inequalities and position in the rural-urban hierarchy
Prior scholarship has documented and tried to explain growing inequalities in individual wealth holdings—especially between homeowners and renters—but has not considered the role of residential position in the rural-urban hierarchy. We estimate fixed-effect models of one’s rank in national net, housing and financial wealth distributions during the 2010–2018 period, based on Norwegian register data on prime-age individuals. We find dramatic geogra…
Migrant residential mobility and tenure transitions within different housing regimes
Migrant housing-related disadvantages and residential segregation are both important concerns in migrant-receiving countries. However, there exists little understanding about the connection between the two. According to the spatial assimilation framework, migrants who establish themselves in the labour market and experience income increase tend to move to higher-income neighbourhoods. However, migrant opportunities to rent or buy an apartment may…
Business Services, Income Inequality, and Income Segregation in Metropolitan Areas
This article investigates business services employment as a driver of income segregation. Theory and intuition suggest that two pathways operate simultaneously. First, business services are marked by huge internal differentiation, low union density, and individualized pay schemes, all of which raise income inequality, and, in turn, income segregation. Second, business services are subject to strong agglomeration economies, which increase the impo…
Raising children in the inner city
Recent research suggests that inner-city parents have become more loyal to urban living. If this is true, it is certainly good news for compact-city policies, which incorporate residential stability as part of the package. We investigate this issue with empirical evidence from Oslo, using longitudinal data for first-time parents with native and non-native background. Our first analysis tracks two parental cohorts, from 1995 and 2005, over 10 year…
The migration pathway to economic mobility
Inter‐regional migration is conventionally seen as an important path to economic mobility. We investigate this proposition for Norway, focusing on earnings rank in the 1974 birth cohort. Our data include migrations and educational achievements between 1990 and 2009, with added information for parental background from 1988 to 1992. We measure annual earnings between 1990 and 2014, with measures that capture static effects, dynamic effects and long…
Mixed neighbourhoods and native out-mobility in the Oslo region
The extent to which the native-born population accept living in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods is receiving more and more attention throughout Europe. The Norwegian debate around this topic started in the 1990s and tends to centre on education and children’s welfare. Thus, our main question is whether native parents are prone to leave neighbourhoods with a high share of ethnic minorities. For this purpose, we utilise ‘white flight’ theory, particula…
Reproduction of social inequality through housing
Population dynamics and ethnic geographies in Oslo
Spatial Integration of Immigrants in Nordic Cities
This article investigates the relevance of spatial assimilation theory in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm. An important backdrop is the “Nordic model of welfare”: We assume that welfare generosity decreases the speed of spatial integration. The study uses non-Western immigrants as a target group and natives as a reference group. We register location in 2000 and 2008, and analyze integration in terms of neighborhood status and residentia…
The impact of housing policies and housing markets on ethnic spatial segregation
This paper examines how ethnic segregation is connected to an ethnic division of the housing market and a spatial separation of different housing tenures in four Nordic cities. Explanations for the differences across the cities are found by comparing housing markets and housing policies. The housing markets are in all four cities ethnically segmented with high concentrations of immigrants in some forms of tenures (especially social/public housing…
Upwards, outwards and westwards
Our purpose in this article is to examine socio‐economic and spatial integration of ethnic minorities in the Oslo region. We analyse relocation between 1998 and 2008 for members of ten minority groups along three overlapping dimensions: upwards in the neighbourhood hierarchy, outwards from the inner city to all suburbs, and westwards from a less affluent to a more affluent part of the region. The results provide some limited support for spatial a…
Long-term Neighbourhood Effects on Education, Income and Employment among Adolescents in Oslo
The study of neighbourhood effects has spread within Europe over the past decade. This article extends previous European research by focusing on Oslo, Norway. The main question relates to individual development among adolescents: does the social composition of the neighbourhood affect the socioeconomic status later in life? The study applies a multilevel approach and utilises longitudinal register-based data. The results reveal small but signific…
Economic Change and Rising Income Inequality in the Oslo Region
Wessel T. Economic change and rising income inequality in the Oslo region: the importance of knowledge-intensive business services, Regional Studies . The growth of market income inequality in the Oslo region of Norway between 1993 and 2004 is investigated. Using two measures, it is shown that most of the change occurred within knowledge-intensive business services, and further within demographic subgroups. Changes in mean income ('between-group …
Does diversity in urban space enhance intergroup contact and tolerance
Contemporary urban theory has started to question the elevation of diversity as a panacea for enduring urban problems – segregation, prejudice and intergroup hostility. This critique coincides with an opposite tendency within classic contact theory and research. The latter tradition has developed an increasing enthusiasm for face‐to‐face interaction. The contact hypothesis, which presupposes established contact, has received conclusive support in…
Inntektsulikhet i Oslo-regionen – langs gamle spor i den nye økonomien
Industrial Shift, Skill Mismatch and Income Inequality
This paper examines changing income inequality in the Oslo region between 1993 and 2000. Adopting a decomposition approach, the analysis reveals that both earnings inequality and post-tax inequality remained stable across educational groups, a finding that contradicts skill mismatch theory. Arguments relating to industrial shift turn out as more relevant: there is a clear dispersion of earnings and a substantial dispersion of post-tax income in c…
Fra leie til eie – konvertering av leiegårder i norske byer
Social Polarisation and Socioeconomic Segregation in a Welfare State
This paper looks at the competing theses of polarising convergence and policy-related divergence in the study of socioeconomic segregation. Using data from Oslo, Norway, it is shown that the level of segregation has remained fairly stable, or has even declined, in spite of increasing income inequality. This spatial stabilisation is causally related to a more flexible design in city planning and policy. It is, however, not a development in accorda…
Spatial Integration of Immigrants in Nordic Cities
This article investigates the relevance of spatial assimilation theory in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm. An important backdrop is the “Nordic model of welfare”: We assume that welfare generosity decreases the speed of spatial integration. The study uses non-Western immigrants as a target group and natives as a reference group. We register location in 2000 and 2008, and analyze integration in terms of neighborhood status and residentia…
Does diversity in urban space enhance intergroup contact and tolerance
Contemporary urban theory has started to question the elevation of diversity as a panacea for enduring urban problems – segregation, prejudice and intergroup hostility. This critique coincides with an opposite tendency within classic contact theory and research. The latter tradition has developed an increasing enthusiasm for face‐to‐face interaction. The contact hypothesis, which presupposes established contact, has received conclusive support in…
Social Polarisation and Socioeconomic Segregation in a Welfare State
This paper looks at the competing theses of polarising convergence and policy-related divergence in the study of socioeconomic segregation. Using data from Oslo, Norway, it is shown that the level of segregation has remained fairly stable, or has even declined, in spite of increasing income inequality. This spatial stabilisation is causally related to a more flexible design in city planning and policy. It is, however, not a development in accorda…
Reproduction of social inequality through housing
Upwards, outwards and westwards
Our purpose in this article is to examine socio‐economic and spatial integration of ethnic minorities in the Oslo region. We analyse relocation between 1998 and 2008 for members of ten minority groups along three overlapping dimensions: upwards in the neighbourhood hierarchy, outwards from the inner city to all suburbs, and westwards from a less affluent to a more affluent part of the region. The results provide some limited support for spatial a…
Long-term Neighbourhood Effects on Education, Income and Employment among Adolescents in Oslo
The study of neighbourhood effects has spread within Europe over the past decade. This article extends previous European research by focusing on Oslo, Norway. The main question relates to individual development among adolescents: does the social composition of the neighbourhood affect the socioeconomic status later in life? The study applies a multilevel approach and utilises longitudinal register-based data. The results reveal small but signific…
Mixed neighbourhoods and native out-mobility in the Oslo region
The extent to which the native-born population accept living in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods is receiving more and more attention throughout Europe. The Norwegian debate around this topic started in the 1990s and tends to centre on education and children’s welfare. Thus, our main question is whether native parents are prone to leave neighbourhoods with a high share of ethnic minorities. For this purpose, we utilise ‘white flight’ theory, particula…
Raising children in the inner city
Recent research suggests that inner-city parents have become more loyal to urban living. If this is true, it is certainly good news for compact-city policies, which incorporate residential stability as part of the package. We investigate this issue with empirical evidence from Oslo, using longitudinal data for first-time parents with native and non-native background. Our first analysis tracks two parental cohorts, from 1995 and 2005, over 10 year…
The migration pathway to economic mobility
Inter‐regional migration is conventionally seen as an important path to economic mobility. We investigate this proposition for Norway, focusing on earnings rank in the 1974 birth cohort. Our data include migrations and educational achievements between 1990 and 2009, with added information for parental background from 1988 to 1992. We measure annual earnings between 1990 and 2014, with measures that capture static effects, dynamic effects and long…
Population dynamics and ethnic geographies in Oslo
Economic Change and Rising Income Inequality in the Oslo Region
Wessel T. Economic change and rising income inequality in the Oslo region: the importance of knowledge-intensive business services, Regional Studies . The growth of market income inequality in the Oslo region of Norway between 1993 and 2004 is investigated. Using two measures, it is shown that most of the change occurred within knowledge-intensive business services, and further within demographic subgroups. Changes in mean income ('between-group …
Migrant residential mobility and tenure transitions within different housing regimes
Migrant housing-related disadvantages and residential segregation are both important concerns in migrant-receiving countries. However, there exists little understanding about the connection between the two. According to the spatial assimilation framework, migrants who establish themselves in the labour market and experience income increase tend to move to higher-income neighbourhoods. However, migrant opportunities to rent or buy an apartment may…
Business Services, Income Inequality, and Income Segregation in Metropolitan Areas
This article investigates business services employment as a driver of income segregation. Theory and intuition suggest that two pathways operate simultaneously. First, business services are marked by huge internal differentiation, low union density, and individualized pay schemes, all of which raise income inequality, and, in turn, income segregation. Second, business services are subject to strong agglomeration economies, which increase the impo…
Urban residence as a driver of wealth differentials
We investigate theoretically and empirically how urban residence contributes to interpersonal differentials in wealth accumulation trajectories through its interrelated influences on labour and housing market outcomes. On the basis of Norwegian register data, we estimate models of one's position in various national wealth distributions over the 2010–2018 period, employing fixed‐effects to reduce geographic selection bias and obtain plausibly caus…
Industrial Shift, Skill Mismatch and Income Inequality
This paper examines changing income inequality in the Oslo region between 1993 and 2000. Adopting a decomposition approach, the analysis reveals that both earnings inequality and post-tax inequality remained stable across educational groups, a finding that contradicts skill mismatch theory. Arguments relating to industrial shift turn out as more relevant: there is a clear dispersion of earnings and a substantial dispersion of post-tax income in c…
Homeowner-renter wealth inequalities and position in the rural-urban hierarchy
Prior scholarship has documented and tried to explain growing inequalities in individual wealth holdings—especially between homeowners and renters—but has not considered the role of residential position in the rural-urban hierarchy. We estimate fixed-effect models of one’s rank in national net, housing and financial wealth distributions during the 2010–2018 period, based on Norwegian register data on prime-age individuals. We find dramatic geogra…
Fra leie til eie – konvertering av leiegårder i norske byer
Social Polarisation and Socioeconomic Segregation in a Welfare State
This paper looks at the competing theses of polarising convergence and policy-related divergence in the study of socioeconomic segregation. Using data from Oslo, Norway, it is shown that the level of segregation has remained fairly stable, or has even declined, in spite of increasing income inequality. This spatial stabilisation is causally related to a more flexible design in city planning and policy. It is, however, not a development in accorda…
Fra leie til eie – konvertering av leiegårder i norske byer
Industrial Shift, Skill Mismatch and Income Inequality
This paper examines changing income inequality in the Oslo region between 1993 and 2000. Adopting a decomposition approach, the analysis reveals that both earnings inequality and post-tax inequality remained stable across educational groups, a finding that contradicts skill mismatch theory. Arguments relating to industrial shift turn out as more relevant: there is a clear dispersion of earnings and a substantial dispersion of post-tax income in c…
Inntektsulikhet i Oslo-regionen – langs gamle spor i den nye økonomien
Does diversity in urban space enhance intergroup contact and tolerance
Contemporary urban theory has started to question the elevation of diversity as a panacea for enduring urban problems – segregation, prejudice and intergroup hostility. This critique coincides with an opposite tendency within classic contact theory and research. The latter tradition has developed an increasing enthusiasm for face‐to‐face interaction. The contact hypothesis, which presupposes established contact, has received conclusive support in…
Economic Change and Rising Income Inequality in the Oslo Region
Wessel T. Economic change and rising income inequality in the Oslo region: the importance of knowledge-intensive business services, Regional Studies . The growth of market income inequality in the Oslo region of Norway between 1993 and 2004 is investigated. Using two measures, it is shown that most of the change occurred within knowledge-intensive business services, and further within demographic subgroups. Changes in mean income ('between-group …
Upwards, outwards and westwards
Our purpose in this article is to examine socio‐economic and spatial integration of ethnic minorities in the Oslo region. We analyse relocation between 1998 and 2008 for members of ten minority groups along three overlapping dimensions: upwards in the neighbourhood hierarchy, outwards from the inner city to all suburbs, and westwards from a less affluent to a more affluent part of the region. The results provide some limited support for spatial a…
Long-term Neighbourhood Effects on Education, Income and Employment among Adolescents in Oslo
The study of neighbourhood effects has spread within Europe over the past decade. This article extends previous European research by focusing on Oslo, Norway. The main question relates to individual development among adolescents: does the social composition of the neighbourhood affect the socioeconomic status later in life? The study applies a multilevel approach and utilises longitudinal register-based data. The results reveal small but signific…
The impact of housing policies and housing markets on ethnic spatial segregation
This paper examines how ethnic segregation is connected to an ethnic division of the housing market and a spatial separation of different housing tenures in four Nordic cities. Explanations for the differences across the cities are found by comparing housing markets and housing policies. The housing markets are in all four cities ethnically segmented with high concentrations of immigrants in some forms of tenures (especially social/public housing…
Spatial Integration of Immigrants in Nordic Cities
This article investigates the relevance of spatial assimilation theory in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm. An important backdrop is the “Nordic model of welfare”: We assume that welfare generosity decreases the speed of spatial integration. The study uses non-Western immigrants as a target group and natives as a reference group. We register location in 2000 and 2008, and analyze integration in terms of neighborhood status and residentia…
Population dynamics and ethnic geographies in Oslo
Mixed neighbourhoods and native out-mobility in the Oslo region
The extent to which the native-born population accept living in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods is receiving more and more attention throughout Europe. The Norwegian debate around this topic started in the 1990s and tends to centre on education and children’s welfare. Thus, our main question is whether native parents are prone to leave neighbourhoods with a high share of ethnic minorities. For this purpose, we utilise ‘white flight’ theory, particula…
Reproduction of social inequality through housing
The migration pathway to economic mobility
Inter‐regional migration is conventionally seen as an important path to economic mobility. We investigate this proposition for Norway, focusing on earnings rank in the 1974 birth cohort. Our data include migrations and educational achievements between 1990 and 2009, with added information for parental background from 1988 to 1992. We measure annual earnings between 1990 and 2014, with measures that capture static effects, dynamic effects and long…
Raising children in the inner city
Recent research suggests that inner-city parents have become more loyal to urban living. If this is true, it is certainly good news for compact-city policies, which incorporate residential stability as part of the package. We investigate this issue with empirical evidence from Oslo, using longitudinal data for first-time parents with native and non-native background. Our first analysis tracks two parental cohorts, from 1995 and 2005, over 10 year…
Business Services, Income Inequality, and Income Segregation in Metropolitan Areas
This article investigates business services employment as a driver of income segregation. Theory and intuition suggest that two pathways operate simultaneously. First, business services are marked by huge internal differentiation, low union density, and individualized pay schemes, all of which raise income inequality, and, in turn, income segregation. Second, business services are subject to strong agglomeration economies, which increase the impo…
Urban residence as a driver of wealth differentials
We investigate theoretically and empirically how urban residence contributes to interpersonal differentials in wealth accumulation trajectories through its interrelated influences on labour and housing market outcomes. On the basis of Norwegian register data, we estimate models of one's position in various national wealth distributions over the 2010–2018 period, employing fixed‐effects to reduce geographic selection bias and obtain plausibly caus…
Homeowner-renter wealth inequalities and position in the rural-urban hierarchy
Prior scholarship has documented and tried to explain growing inequalities in individual wealth holdings—especially between homeowners and renters—but has not considered the role of residential position in the rural-urban hierarchy. We estimate fixed-effect models of one’s rank in national net, housing and financial wealth distributions during the 2010–2018 period, based on Norwegian register data on prime-age individuals. We find dramatic geogra…
Migrant residential mobility and tenure transitions within different housing regimes
Migrant housing-related disadvantages and residential segregation are both important concerns in migrant-receiving countries. However, there exists little understanding about the connection between the two. According to the spatial assimilation framework, migrants who establish themselves in the labour market and experience income increase tend to move to higher-income neighbourhoods. However, migrant opportunities to rent or buy an apartment may…
The geography of intergenerational mobility in Norway
We investigate intergenerational income mobility across labor market regions in Norway, looking at gender differences in response to industrial diversity. Our identification strategy exploits variation in the timing of regional migration, measured over the age spans 6−19 and 13−19 years. We make extensive use of fixed effects so that each region only affects adult outcomes, measured as income rank, through differences in exposure time. Our result…
A comparative study of socio-economic segregation in European capital city-regions
Previous research based on 2001 and 2011 census data indicated rising levels of residential segregation between socio-economic groups in many large city-regions in Europe as well as globally. Rising segregation is an important societal concern, as place of residence plays a crucial role in shaping access to urban opportunities. Residential isolation can be especially harmful for the most vulnerable groups. Income inequality was identified as the …
Economics (17 works) · Demographic economics (15 works) · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies (15 works) · Geography (14 works) · Political science (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (12 works) · Demography (9 works) · Demography (8 works) · Economic growth (7 works)