Country-of-origin-specific economic capital in neighbourhoods: Impact on immigrants’ employment opportunities

Abstract

Does living in an area characterized by high concentrations of residents of the same country-of-origin deprive ethnic minority groups, or does potential access to an extended country-of-origin-specific network stimulate their integration? This paper takes a new approach to analysing the potential of country-of-origin-specific economic capital in neighbourhoods to increase employment opportunities. We add to the ‘ethnic enclave’ debate by measuring country-of-origin-specific economic capital as the rate of employed co-countrymen, while controlling for the presence of co-countrymen and general employment rates in the neighbourhood. Whereas many studies employ aggregated data to estimate the impact of neighbourhood, here we use individualized, scalable neighbourhoods. This allows for a flexible approach in studying the impact of country-of-origin-specific economic capital in neighbourhoods. We employ individual longitudinal Swedish registry data for 2000–2010 on working-age individuals of Iraqi, Iranian, Turkish, and Somalian backgrounds in Stockholm, Göteborg, and Malmö. We find that an increased share of employed co-countrymen positively influences individual employment prospects. We add to existing knowledge by showing that the impact of minority clustering on employment outcomes is conditional on the quality of local networks – i.e., country-of-origin-specific economic capital – and on the scale of measurement.

Co-location of different population categories. Micro-level segregation dynamics: the case of Amsterdam

“…Language and cultural barriers are limited, and recent research has shown that very positive effects of such situations should be expected when the already settled individuals have relatively strong economic positions. In other words, the presence of 'own-group' co-residents in their immediate area who are employed themselves would create ideal conditions for newcomers to get access to the labour market as well (Kadarik et al, 2021). Such situations of co-location of individuals of the same country of origin should therefore not automatically be judged negatively.…”

“…However, staying put in their own socio-cultural spatial 'bubble' and not crossing borders to other groups may potentially hinder full integration in the recipient society (Massey and Denton, 1987;Wilson, 1987). In addition, there are indications that 'own-group' migrants may be helpful, but especially if the already settled migrants also occupy a good position in society and are employed (Kadarik et al, 2021).…”

Trends of out-mobility from large housing estates in Stockholm: influences of the housing policy and neighbourhood context

“…Young people with not so developed forms of capital exhibit risks to become trapped in more precarious housing segments and to suffer several setbacks (Hochstenbach & Boterman, 2015). In addition, the availability of supportive social networks in one's neighbourhood-especially important for ethnic minorities and low-income households, may lower incentive for moving, or lead to residential choices where the supportive clusters exist (Kadarik et al 2021;Miltenburg, 2015;Phillips, 2006). The level of residential clustering tends to be especially high for migrants upon arrival, especially when arriving from a low-income country (Macpherson & Strömgren, 2013), but the longer duration of residing in a certain neighbourhood also seems to decrease the incentive to move (Vogiazides, 2018).…”

Daily Mobility Patterns: Reducing or Reproducing Inequalities and Segregation?

“…Not least, in relation to the challenges of measuring neighbourhood effects, the issue of spatial scale emerges as a key aspect (R. Andersson, & Musterd, 2010;Kadarik, Miltenburg, Musterd, & Östh, 2021). As argued by Östh and Türk (2020; see also Grannis, 1998Grannis, , 2005Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974), this points in the direction of knowing more, not only about where people reside but also about how infrastructure and accessibility shape a neighbourhood's conditions for its residents.…”