NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

NBER Publications by Giorgio Topa

Working Papers and Chapters

January 2005Place of Work and Place of Residence: Informal Hiring Networks and Labor Market Outcomes
with Patrick Bayer, Stephen Ross: w11019
We use a novel research design to empirically detect the effect of social interactions among neighbors on labor market outcomes. Specifically, using Census data that characterize residential and employment locations down to the city block, we examine whether individuals residing in the same block are more likely to work together than those in nearby blocks. We find evidence of significant social interactions operating at the block level: residing on the same versus nearby blocks increases the probability of working together by over 33 percent. The results also indicate that this referral effect is stronger when individuals are similar in socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., both have children of similar ages) and when at least one individual is well attached to the labor market. These ...

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