IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v58y2021i4p696-714.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Neighbourhoods, networks and unemployment: The role of neighbourhood disadvantage and local networks in taking up work

Author

Listed:
  • Leen Vandecasteele

    (University of Lausanne, NCCR LIVES, Switzerland)

  • Anette Eva Fasang

    (Humboldt University of Berlin and WZB Berlin Social Science Center)

Abstract

We bring together research on social networks and neighbourhood disadvantage to examine how they jointly affect unemployed individuals’ probability of re-entering employment. Data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study ‘Understanding Society’ provide information on the proportion of friends who live in the same neighbourhood, and are linked with small-scale administrative information on neighborhood employment deprivation. Results indicate that neighbourhood employment deprivation prolongs unemployment, but only for individuals who report that all of their friends live in the same neighbourhood. Living in an advantaged neighbourhood with all of one’s friends in the neighbourhood increases the chances of exiting unemployment. In contrast, neighbourhood location is not associated with unemployment exit if one’s friends do not live in the same neighbourhood. We conclude that neighbourhood effects on exiting unemployment critically depend on individuals’ social embeddedness in the neighbourhood. Not just residing in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, but actually living there with all one’s friends, prevents individuals from re-entering employment. This opens new avenues for theorising neighbourhood effects as social rather than geographic phenomena, and highlights that the effects of neighbourhood socio-economic characteristics are conditional on the level of interaction residents have within their neighbourhood.

Suggested Citation

  • Leen Vandecasteele & Anette Eva Fasang, 2021. "Neighbourhoods, networks and unemployment: The role of neighbourhood disadvantage and local networks in taking up work," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(4), pages 696-714, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:4:p:696-714
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098020925374
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098020925374
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098020925374?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:hal:journl:halshs-01116874 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Mathieu Bunel & Yannick L’Horty & Pascale Petit, 2016. "Discrimination based on place of residence and access to employment," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(2), pages 267-286, February.
    3. Katherine M. O'Regan & John M. Quigley, 1996. "Teenage Employment and the Spatial Isolation of Minority and Poverty Households," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(3), pages 692-702.
    4. Dawkins, Casey J. & Shen, Qing & Sanchez, Thomas W., 2005. "Race, space, and unemployment duration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 91-113, July.
    5. Moffitt, Robert, 1983. "An Economic Model of Welfare Stigma," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 1023-1035, December.
    6. O'Regan, Katherine M. & Quigley, John M., 1995. "Teenage Employment and the Spatial Isolation of Minority and Poverty Households," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt6vg6961r, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    8. Topa, Giorgio & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "Neighborhood and Network Effects," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 561-624, Elsevier.
    9. Emily M. Miltenburg, 2015. "The Conditionality of Neighbourhood Effects upon Social Neighbourhood Embeddedness: A Critical Examination of the Resources and Socialisation Mechanisms," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 272-294, March.
    10. Tunstall, Rebecca & Green, Anne & Lupton, Ruth & Watmough, Simon & Bates, Katie, 2014. "Does poor neighbourhood reputation create a neighbourhood effect on employment? The results of a field experiment in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55913, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. O'Regan, Katherine M. & Quigley, John M., 1995. "Teenage Employment and the Spatial Isolation of Minority and Poverty Households," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt0fm053h0, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    12. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser, 1997. "Are Ghettos Good or Bad?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 827-872.
    13. Donna Ginther & Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe, 2000. "Neighborhood Attributes as Determinants of Children's Outcomes: How Robust Are the Relationships?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(4), pages 603-642.
    14. J. Scott Long & Jeremy Freese, 2006. "Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata, 2nd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LLC, edition 2, number long2, March.
    15. John F. Kain, 1968. "Housing Segregation, Negro Employment, and Metropolitan Decentralization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 82(2), pages 175-197.
    16. Ted Mouw, 2002. "Are black workers missing the connection? The effect of spatial distance and employee referrals on interfirm racial segregation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 39(3), pages 507-528, August.
    17. Bruce A. Weinberg & Patricia B. Reagan & Jeffrey J. Yankow, 2004. "Do Neighborhoods Affect Hours Worked? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(4), pages 891-924, October.
    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. Tamara Premrov & Matthias Schnetzer, 2023. "Social mix and the city: Council housing and neighbourhood income inequality in Vienna," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(4), pages 752-769, March.
    2. Joanie Cayouette-Remblière & Eric Charmes, 2024. "Social ties in and out of the neighbourhood: Between compensation and cumulation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(8), pages 1581-1603, June.
    3. Whelan, Adele & Devlin, Anne & McGuinness, Seamus, 2023. "Social Inclusion and Levels of Urbanisation: Does It Matter Where You Live?," IZA Discussion Papers 16052, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    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. Patrick Bayer & Stephen L. Ross, 2006. "Identifying Individual and Group Effects in the Presence of Sorting: A Neighborhood Effects Application," Working papers 2006-13, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2009.
    2. Fredrik Andersson & John C. Haltiwanger & Mark J. Kutzbach & Henry O. Pollakowski & Daniel H. Weinberg, 2018. "Job Displacement and the Duration of Joblessness: The Role of Spatial Mismatch," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 203-218, May.
    3. Patrick Bayer & Stephen L. Ross & Giorgio Topa, 2008. "Place of Work and Place of Residence: Informal Hiring Networks and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1150-1196, December.
    4. David M. Frankel, 2004. "Was the Late 19th Century a Golden Age of Racial Integration?," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 167, Econometric Society.
    5. Alivon, Fanny & Guillain, Rachel, 2018. "Urban segregation and unemployment: A case study of the urban area of Marseille – Aix-en-Provence (France)," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 143-155.
    6. Fredrik Andersson & John C. Haltiwanger & Mark J. Kutzbach & Henry O. Pollakowski & Daniel H. Weinberg, 2018. "Job Displacement and the Duration of Joblessness: The Role of Spatial Mismatch," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 203-218, May.
    7. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 1999. "The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 455-506, June.
    8. Patrick Bayer & Robert McMillan, 2005. "Racial Sorting and Neighborhood Quality," NBER Working Papers 11813, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Katherine M. O'Regan & John M. Quigley, 1998. "Where Youth Live: Economic Effects of Urban Space on Employment Prospects," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(7), pages 1187-1205, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Picard, Pierre M. & Zenou, Yves, 2018. "Urban spatial structure, employment and social ties," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 77-93.
    12. Montserrat Vilalta-Bufi(Universitat de Barcelona) & Ausias Ribo (Universitat de Barcelona), 2012. "Educational expansion, intergenerational mobility and over-education," Working Papers in Economics 284, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    13. Sofia Wixe & Lars Pettersson, 2020. "Segregation and individual employment: a longitudinal study of neighborhood effects," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 64(1), pages 9-36, February.
    14. Sylvain Chareyron & Laetitia Challe & Yannick L'Horty & Pascale Petit, 2020. "The failure of the “Emplois Francs” scheme: evaluation with repeated testing," Erudite Working Paper 2020-02, Erudite.
    15. Justin Tyndall, 2017. "Waiting for the R train: Public transportation and employment," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(2), pages 520-537, February.
    16. Patrick Bayer & Robert McMillan & Kim Rueben, 2004. "Residential Segregation in General Equilibrium," Working Papers 885, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    17. Sylvain Chareyron & Laetitia Challe & Yannick L’Horty & Pascale Petit, 2022. "Can subsidies paid directly to employers reduce residential discrimination in employment? An assessment based on serial field experiments," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(6), pages 1202-1218, May.
    18. Stephen L. Ross & George C. Galster, 2005. "Fair Housing Enforcement and Changes in Discrimination between 1989 and 2000: An Exploratory Study," Working papers 2005-16, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    19. Jeffrey M. Weinstein, 2016. "The Impact Of School Racial Compositions On Neighborhood Racial Compositions: Evidence From School Redistricting," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1365-1382, July.
    20. Glaeser, Edward L., 2014. "Understanding housing: The intellectual legacy of John Quigley," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 3-12.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:4:p:696-714. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.