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Title: Social Capital and Racial Inequality

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2006

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Abstract: Currently, there is an extensive body of theoretical and empirical research which links personal networks of individuals with labor market outcomes such as job referral (Fernandez and Weinberg 1997; Granovetter 1974), income (Smith 2000), and job tenure (Fernandez, Castilla, and Moore 2000). However, labor market researchers have directed relatively little attention to the role of social capital at the community level. This gap is surprising given that there is growing evidence that social networks of individual are embedded in the community, since actions and outcomes of individual actors can be influenced not just by their dyadic relationships with network contacts but also by the social environment at large (Granovetter 1992). In that context, the previous research that focuses only on the dyadic network ties of individuals runs the risk of neglecting contextual factors that can significantly facilitate or constrain individual social capital. This risk is even greater in racial inequality research, where researchers have empirically documented the cross-race and gender variations in social capital and their impact on wages (Aguilera 2002; Smith 2000). To fill this gap, we study how community level social capital influences racial gaps in wages in 53 communities in the US.

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Authors: Kwon, Seok-Woo; Heflin, Colleen

Publisher: University of Kentucky

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity

Countries: United States