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Social Interactions, Thresholds, and Unemployment in Neighborhoods

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Abstract

This paper finds that the predicted unemployment rate in a community increases dramatically when the fraction of neighborhood residents with college degrees drops below twenty percent. This threshold behavior provides empirical support for "epidemic" theories of inner-city unemployment. Using a structural model with unobserved neighborhood heterogeneity in productivity due to sorting, I show that sorting alone cannot generate the observed thresholds without also implying a wage distribution which is inconsistent with that observed in microeconomic data. Social interaction effects are thus a necessary element in any suitable explanation for the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Krauth, 2000. "Social Interactions, Thresholds, and Unemployment in Neighborhoods," Discussion Papers dp00-12, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University, revised 28 Mar 2000.
    • Handle: RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp00-12
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Adriaan R. Soetevent, 2006. "Empirics of the Identification of Social Interactions; An Evaluation of the Approaches and Their Results," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 193-228, April.
    2. Yannis M. Ioannides & Linda Datcher Loury, 2004. "Job Information Networks, Neighborhood Effects, and Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1056-1093, December.
    3. Oomes, Nienke, 2003. "Local trade networks and spatially persistent unemployment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 27(11-12), pages 2115-2149, September.
    4. Krauth, Brian V., 2004. "A dynamic model of job networking and social influences on employment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1185-1204, March.
    5. 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.
    6. Bruce A. Weinberg, 2007. "Social Interactions with Endogenous Associations," NBER Working Papers 13038, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Qingyan Shang, 2014. "Endogenous neighborhood effects on welfare participation," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 639-667, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    neighborhood effects; spillovers; networks; social interactions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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