IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/113681.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The long shadow of local decline: birthplace economic conditions, political attitudes, and long-term individual economic outcomes in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • McNeil, Andrew
  • Lee, Neil
  • Luca, Davide

Abstract

Does growing up in a high-unemployment area matter for individual economic and political outcomes? Despite a significant focus upon the links between place of residence, life outcomes and political attitudes of individuals, there is less evidence on how local economic conditions at birth shape individual wages and political attitudes over the longterm. This paper links the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) micro data from English and Welsh respondents with historic localised information on unemployment. Our results, which control for composition effects, family background, and sorting of people across places, show that being born into a high-unemployment Local Authority has a significant, long-term impact on individual’s economic outcomes, decreasing earnings in adulthood. Even accounting for individual economic outcomes, being born into a local authority of high unemployment makes individuals more economically left-wing, with a greater belief in an obligation for the government to provide jobs, but also less culturally tolerant. These results contribute to the debate on the nature and rationales of placebased policy solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • McNeil, Andrew & Lee, Neil & Luca, Davide, 2022. "The long shadow of local decline: birthplace economic conditions, political attitudes, and long-term individual economic outcomes in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113681, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:113681
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/113681/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bosquet, Clément & Overman, Henry G., 2019. "Why does birthplace matter so much?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 26-34.
    2. Enrique Garcilazo & Joaquim Oliveira Martins, 2015. "The Contribution of Regions to Aggregate Growth in the OECD," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(2), pages 205-221, April.
    3. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, 2018. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I: Childhood Exposure Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1107-1162.
    4. D'Costa, Sabine & Overman, Henry G., 2014. "The urban wage growth premium: Sorting or learning?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 168-179.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14816 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Maria Cotofan & Lea Cassar & Robert Dur & Stephan Meier, 2023. "Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 467-473, March.
    7. Edward L. Glaeser & Bryce A. Ward, 2006. "Myths and Realities of American Political Geography," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 119-144, Spring.
    8. Grasso, Maria Teresa & Farrall, Stephen & Gray, Emily & Hay, Colin & Jennings, Will, 2019. "Thatcher’s Children, Blair’s Babies, Political Socialization and Trickle-down Value Change: An Age, Period and Cohort Analysis," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 17-36, January.
    9. Neil Lee & Katy Morris & Thomas Kemeny, 2018. "Immobility and the Brexit vote," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 11(1), pages 143-163.
    10. Philip McCann, 2020. "Perceptions of regional inequality and the geography of discontent: insights from the UK," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 256-267, February.
    11. Maxwell, Rahsaan, 2019. "Cosmopolitan Immigration Attitudes in Large European Cities: Contextual or Compositional Effects?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(2), pages 456-474, May.
    12. Philip Oreopoulos, 2003. "The Long-Run Consequences of Living in a Poor Neighborhood," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1533-1575.
    13. Corak,Miles (ed.), 2004. "Generational Income Mobility in North America and Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521827607.
    14. Ulrike Malmendier & Stefan Nagel, 2016. "Learning from Inflation Experiences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(1), pages 53-87.
    15. Holbein, John B., 2017. "Childhood Skill Development and Adult Political Participation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 111(3), pages 572-583, August.
    16. Maarten van Ham & David Manley, 2012. "Neighbourhood Effects Research at a Crossroads: Ten Challenges for Future Research," RatSWD Working Papers 204, German Data Forum (RatSWD).
    17. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Lawrence F. Katz, 2016. "The Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods on Children: New Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(4), pages 855-902, April.
    18. Heath, Anthony & Evans, Geoffrey & Martin, Jean, 1994. "The Measurement of Core Beliefs and Values: The Development of Balanced Socialist/Laissez Faire and Libertarian/Authoritarian Scales," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 115-132, January.
    19. Hansen, Kerstin F. & Stutzer, Alois, 2021. "Experiencing Booms and Busts in the Welfare State and Support for Redistribution," IZA Discussion Papers 14327, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Lupu, Noam & Pontusson, Jonas, 2011. "The Structure of Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(2), pages 316-336, May.
    21. Inglehart, Ronald, 1971. "The Silent Revolution in Europe: Intergenerational Change in Post-Industrial Societies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 991-1017, December.
    22. Paola Giuliano & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2014. "Growing up in a Recession," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 787-817.
    23. Gallego, Aina & Buscha, Franz & Sturgis, Patrick & Oberski, Daniel, 2016. "Places and Preferences: A Longitudinal Analysis of Self-Selection and Contextual Effects," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(3), pages 529-550, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kuang, Pei & Luca, Davide & Wei, Zhiwu & Yao, Yao, 2023. "Great or grim? Disagreement about Brexit, economic expectations and household spending," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119200, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McNeil, Andrew & Luca, Davide & Lee, Neil, 2023. "The long shadow of local decline: Birthplace economic adversity and long-term individual outcomes in the UK," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    2. Maria Cotofan & Robert Dur & Stephan Meier, 2021. "Does growing up in a recession increase compassion? The case of attitudes towards immigration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1757, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Luca, Davide & Terrero-Davila, Javier & Stein, Jonas & Lee, Neil, 2023. "Progressive cities: urban–rural polarisation of social values and economic development around the world," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118275, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Bosquet, Clément & Overman, Henry G., 2019. "Why does birthplace matter so much?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 26-34.
    5. Stefanie Huber, 2022. "SHE canÕt afford it and HE doesnÕt want it: The gender gap in the COVID-19 consumption response," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-029/II, Tinbergen Institute.
    6. Gundi Knies & Patricia C Melo & Min Zhang, 2021. "Neighbourhood deprivation, life satisfaction and earnings: Comparative analyses of neighbourhood effects at bespoke scales," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(13), pages 2640-2659, October.
    7. Bruce Weber & J. Matthew Fannin & Kathleen Miller & Stephan Goetz, 2018. "Intergenerational mobility of low‐income youth in metropolitan and non‐metropolitan America: A spatial analysis," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 87-101, June.
    8. Hannes Schwandt & Till von Wachter, 2019. "Unlucky Cohorts: Estimating the Long-Term Effects of Entering the Labor Market in a Recession in Large Cross-Sectional Data Sets," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(S1), pages 161-198.
    9. Raoul van Maarseveen, 2021. "The urban–rural education gap: do cities indeed make us smarter? [Educational investment responses to economic opportunity: evidence from Indian road construction]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(5), pages 683-714.
    10. Bičáková, Alena & Cortes, Guido Matias & Mazza, Jacopo, 2023. "Make your own luck: The wage gains from starting college in a bad economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Paul Anand & Jere R. Behrman & Hai-Anh H. Dang & Sam Jones, 2019. "Does sorting matter for learning inequality?Evidence from East Africa," PIER Working Paper Archive 20-006, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    12. Andros Kourtellos & Chih Ming Tan & Steven N. Durlauf, 2022. "The Great Gatsby Curve," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 571-605, August.
    13. Maria Cotofan & Robert Dur & Stephan Meier, 2022. "Does Growing up in Economic Hard Times Increase Compassion? The Case of Attitudes towards Immigration," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-047/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Shoag, Daniel & Carollo, Nicholas, 2016. "The Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment," Working Paper Series 16-022, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    15. Fletcher, Jason M. & Ross, Stephen L. & Zhang, Yuxiu, 2020. "The consequences of friendships: Evidence on the effect of social relationships in school on academic achievement," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    16. David J. Harding & Lisa Sanbonmatsu & Greg J. Duncan & Lisa A. Gennetian & Lawrence F. Katz & Ronald C. Kessler & Jeffrey R. Kling & Matthew Sciandra & Jens Ludwig, 2023. "Evaluating Contradictory Experimental and Nonexperimental Estimates of Neighborhood Effects on Economic Outcomes for Adults," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 453-486, March.
    17. Buscha, Franz & Gorman, Emma & Sturgis, Patrick, 2020. "Spatial and Social Mobility in England and Wales: Moving Out to Move On?," IZA Discussion Papers 13437, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. ANDREOLI Francesco & MUSSINI Mauro & PRETE Vincenzo, 2019. "Urban poverty: Theory and evidence from American cities," LISER Working Paper Series 2019-07, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    19. Markussen, Simen & Røed, Knut, 2017. "Egalitarianism under Pressure: Toward Lower Economic Mobility in the Knowledge Economy?," IZA Discussion Papers 10664, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Melissa S. Kearney & Phillip B. Levine, 2016. "Income Inequality, Social Mobility, and the Decision to Drop Out of High School," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 333-396.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    place of birth; unemployment; territorial inequality; lifetime mobility; political attitutes; place-based policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:113681. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.