Do Neighbors Help Finding a Job? Social Networks and Labor Market Outcomes after Plant Closures
37 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2017
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Do Neighbors Help Finding a Job? Social Networks and Labor Market Outcomes after Plant Closures
Date Written: January 2017
Abstract
Social networks may affect workers' labor market outcomes. Using rich spatial data from administrative records, we analyze whether the employment status of neighbors influences the employment probability of a worker who lost his job due to a plant closure and the channels through which this occurs. Our findings suggest that a ten percentage point higher neighborhood employment rate increases the probability of having a job six months after displacement by 0.9 percentage points. The neighborhood effect seems to be driven not by social norms but by information transmission at the neighborhood level, and additionally by networks of former co-workers who also lost their jobs due to plant closure.
Keywords: social networks, job search, neighborhood, employment, wages, plant closures
JEL Classification: J63, J64, R23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation