SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DIMENSIONS OF NEIGHBORHOOD EFFECTS ON HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

Research into the effects of neighborhood characteristics on children’s behavior has burgeoned in recent years, but these studies have generally adopted a limited conceptualization of the spatial and temporal dimensions of neighborhood effects. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and techniques of spatial data analysis to examine how both the socioeconomic characteristics of extralocal neighborhoods—neighborhoods surrounding the immediate neighborhood of residence—and the duration of exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout the childhood life course influence the likelihood of graduating from high school. Among blacks and whites, socioeconomic advantage in the immediate neighborhood increases the likelihood of completing high school, but among whites higher levels of socioeconomic advantage in extralocal neighborhoods decrease high school graduation rates. Extralocal neighborhood advantage suppresses the influence of advantage in the immediate neighborhood so that controlling for extralocal conditions provides stronger support for the neighborhood effects hypothesis than has previously been observed. Exposure to advantaged neighborhoods over the childhood life course exerts a stronger effect than point-in-time measures on high school graduation, and racial differences in exposure to advantaged neighbors over the childhood life course help to suppress a net black advantage in the likelihood of completing high school.     

Who gets evicted? Assessing individual,neighborhood, and network factors

The prevalence and consequences of eviction have transformed the lived experience of urban poverty in America, yet little is known about why some families avoid eviction while others do not. Applying discrete hazard models to a unique dataset of renters, this study empirically evaluates individual, neighborhood, and social network characteristics that explain disparities in displacement from housing. Family size, job loss, neighborhood crime and eviction rates, and network disadvantage are identified as significant and robust predictors of eviction, net of missed rental payments and other relevant factors. This study advances urban sociology and inequality research and informs policy interventions designed to prevent eviction and stem its consequences.     

The resilience of neighborhood social processes: A case study of the 2011 Brisbane flood

Social disorganization theories position neighborhood social capital and collective efficacy as key social processes that should facilitate community resilience in the aftermath of disaster. Yet limited evidence demonstrates that these social processes are themselves resilient with some studies showing that disaster can fracture even once cohesive neighborhoods. In this paper we assess the stability of neighborhood level collective efficacy and social capital before and after a disaster. We use multilevel structural equation modeling and draw on census and longitudinal survey data collected from over 4000 residents living in 148 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Australia before and after a significant flood event. We examine what happens to social capital and collective efficacy in flooded and non-flooded neighborhoods and assess whether demographic shifts are associated with change and/or stability in these processes. We find strong evidence that these processes operate similarly across flooded and not flooded communities. Our findings also reveal significant stability for our measures of social capital across time, while collective efficacy increases post flood across all neighborhoods, but more so in flooded neighborhoods. Neighborhood demographics have limited effect on patterns of stability or change in these social processes. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for our understanding of neighborhood resilience in the wake of disaster.     

Differential investments and opportunities: How do neighborhood conditions moderate the relationship between perceived housing discrimination and social capital?

Though the adverse consequences of perceived housing discrimination have been documented, little is known about whether such experience undermines one's social capital in a neighborhood and even less is about whether and how this relationship is altered by neighborhood features. We proposed a framework that simultaneously considers within-individual and between-neighborhood processes. We applied multilevel structural equation models to data from Philadelphia (n = 9987) and found that (a) perceived housing discrimination was negatively associated with one's social capital even after other confounders were considered, (b) this negative association could be partly explained by the proliferated daily stress and anxiety mechanisms, (c) differential exposures to neighborhood social disadvantage accounted for the variation in social capital across neighborhoods, and (d) the adverse association between perceived housing discrimination and social capital could be attenuated by neighborhood stability. The findings suggested that appropriate interventions should buffer the negative association of perceived housing discrimination with social capital.     

Exposure to violence,substance use,and neighborhood context

Adolescent exposure to violence and substance use are both public health problems, but how neighborhood context contributes to these outcomes is unclear. This study uses prospective data from 1416 adolescents to examine the direct and interacting influences of victimization and neighborhood factors on adolescent substance use. Based on hierarchical Bernoulli regression models that controlled for prior substance use and multiple individual-level factors, exposure to violence significantly increased the likelihood of marijuana use but not alcohol use or binge drinking. There was little evidence that community norms regarding adolescent substance use influenced rates of substance use or moderated the impact of victimization. Community disadvantage did not directly impact substance use, but the relationship between victimization and marijuana use was stronger for those in neighborhoods with greater disadvantage. The results suggest that victimization is particularly likely to affect adolescents’ marijuana use, and that this relationship may be contingent upon neighborhood economic conditions.     

Socioeconomic background and racial earnings inequality: A propensity score analysis

Does a racial earnings gap exist among individuals who come from similar childhood socioeconomic backgrounds? Is the racial earnings gap larger or smaller for those from higher or lower socioeconomic origins? This research addresses these questions by taking a counterfactual approach to estimating the residual racial pay gap between non-Hispanic black and white men from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The findings indicate that the racial earnings gap is larger among those from lower-middle class and working class childhood backgrounds than among those from upper-middle class backgrounds, for whom the racial pay gap is indistinguishable from zero. Compared to their more advantaged counterparts, black men from lower-middle and working class backgrounds have more difficulty rising above their socioeconomic origins relative to white men from similar social class backgrounds. Racial earnings equality among those from upper-middle class backgrounds suggests that the high levels of racial inequality often observed among those with college and professional degrees may in fact reflect heterogeneous childhood socioeconomic backgrounds among the college educated—backgrounds that continue to have an effect on earnings despite individual academic achievements.     

Neighborhood characteristics, parental practices and children’s math achievement in elementary school

This paper investigates the relationships among neighborhood characteristics, education-related parental practices, and children’s academic achievement during a critical but under-studied stage of children’s educational trajectories - the elementary school years. Using a large, nationally representative database of American elementary school students - the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) - and contextual data from the 2000 US Census, we examine parental practices and neighborhood characteristics at the beginning of children’s school careers (grades K-1) and their associations with math achievement through the end of the 5th grade. Findings: Net of family-level characteristics, higher levels of early education-oriented parental practices were associated with higher mathematics achievement at the end of 5th grade, while neighborhood disadvantage was associated with lower 5th grade math achievement. Families residing in high poverty, high unemployment, low-education neighborhoods employed fewer education-oriented practices with their kindergarten-first grade children, but the positive effect of such parental practices on children’s mathematics achievement was stronger for children who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods.     

Neighborhood disadvantage and obesity across childhood and adolescence: Evidence from the NLSY children and young adults cohort (1986–2010)

Previous research suggests that youth who grow up in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods face higher odds of becoming obese. Neighborhood effects scholars, meanwhile, have suggested that contextual influences may increase in strength as children age. This is the first study to examine whether developmental epochs moderate the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on obesity over time. I use thirteen waves of new restricted and geo-coded data on children ages 2–18 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Children and Young Adults. Bivariate and pooled logistic regression results suggest that neighborhood disadvantage has a stronger impact on adolescents' likelihood of becoming obese. Fixed effects models reveal that after adjusting for observed and unobserved confounders, adolescents continue to face higher odds of becoming obese due to the conditions associated with living in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Moreover, as research on adults suggests, girls experience larger impacts of neighborhood disadvantage than boys.     

Context,network, and adolescent perceived risk

Prior research has identified a list of individual attributes, along with neighborhood, school, and network characteristics, as potential factors affecting perceived risk. However, prior research has rarely investigated the simultaneous effects of these factors on perceived risk. This study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth), supplemented with the 1990 census data, to examine the associations of neighborhood, school, and network characteristics and perceived risk among adolescents. To account for the overlaps between school districts and neighborhoods, we use cross-classified multilevel modeling (CCMM). Our analyses lead to two main findings. First, perceived risk appears to be context-specific. Perceived risk at school is mostly affected by school characteristics but not by neighborhood characteristics. Perceived risk in neighborhood is mostly affected by neighborhood characteristics but not by school characteristics. Second, network characteristics matter for both types of perceived risk and more so for perceived risk at school than in neighborhood. We find that, while having more friends is associated with a lower level of perceived risk, having more friends with delinquent and violent behaviors is associated with a higher level of perceived risk among adolescents.     

Segregation, the concentration of poverty, and the life chances of individuals

We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.     

Race, social class, and student engagement in middle school English classrooms

Student level data on participation in classroom discourse and student effort on assignments in 117 middle school English classrooms are used to investigate the social determinants of student engagement in classroom instruction. Social identity theories of race, social class, and attachment to school, and research in the social psychology of achievement motivation both suggest differential levels of student engagement among diverse student groups. Using multilevel models, the author investigates the relationship between classroom context and students’ levels of engagement. Levels of engagement among black and low SES students are mostly insensitive to classroom context, suggesting there is little collective action directed at fostering anti-school norms among these student groups. However, consistent with research in the social psychology of achievement motivation, students who begin class with weaker reading and writing skills are less likely to be engaged, setting the stage for a cycle of reduced achievement growth.     

Assessing the benefits of a rising tide: Educational attainment and increases in neighborhood socioeconomic advantage

An emerging approach to studying associations between neighborhood contexts and educational outcomes is to estimate the outcomes of adolescents growing up in neighborhoods that are experiencing economic growth in comparison to peers that reside in economically stable or declining communities. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), I examine the association between education attainment and changes in socioeconomic advantage in urban neighborhoods between 1990 and 2000. I find that residing in a neighborhood that experiences economic improvements has a positive association with educational attainment for urban adolescents. Furthermore, race-based analyses suggest consistently positive associations for all race subgroups, lending support to protective models of neighborhood effects that argue high neighborhood SES supports positive outcomes for adolescents residing in these contexts.     

社会资本、市场化改革与企业绩效——来自中国上市公司的面板证据

本文通过对2004～2006年沪市210家上市公司高管人员的政治网络、经营网络和学校网络进行赋值,将其社会资本予以量化。我们将企业所在地的市场化程度引入模型,检验社会资本与市场化改革对于企业经营绩效的影响。本文得到的主要结论包括:(1)用政治网络度量的企业家社会资本对企业绩效存在显著的正向关系;(2)企业家社会资本对企业绩效的作用随着市场化的推进逐渐减弱;(3)企业家政治网络对企业绩效作用的影响高于经营网络和校友网络。     

Black people don't exercise in my neighborhood: Perceived racial composition and leisure-time physical activity among middle class blacks and whites

Using a sample of middle class blacks and whites living in urban and suburban areas, this article focuses on how perceptions of the racial composition of neighborhoods influence leisure-time physical activity. Using an ordinal representation of an underlying continuous indication of the perceived percentage of blacks and whites within an egocentric neighborhood, the results show that black men are significantly less likely to be physically active in neighborhoods perceived as predominately white. Alternatively, they are more likely to be physically active in neighborhoods perceived as racially diverse and predominately black. Conversely, for black women, white women, and white men, physical activity increases as the perception of one's neighborhood becomes increasingly white. Black women are significantly less likely to engage in physical activity in neighborhoods perceived as predominately black and urban. Drawing upon the intersectionality framework, I discuss how perceptions of criminalization and safety lead to different levels of leisure-time physical activity for middle class black women and men relative to their white middle class counterparts.     

城镇贫困问题探源:从穷人经济学的角度

随着城镇居民收入差距的持续全面扩大,我国城镇贫困问题日益突出并成为影响社会和谐与发展的重要因素。以穷人经济学为理论基础,指出人力资本与物质资本的双重短缺及由此导致的穷人行为的有限理性特征,导致了城镇贫困的产生。解决城镇贫困问题必须着眼于提高穷困群体的人力资本与物质资本存量,大力发展教育事业和社会保障事业。     

Social costs to trying hard in high school: Differences by race-ethnicity

There is debate whether social costs to trying hard in school are more widespread among black and Latino students than white or Asian students. Studies assessing a burden of “acting white” among black and Latino students have examined how the correlation between GPA and popularity or harassment varies across racial-ethnic groups. Yet, there has been little attention to whether students are aware of these costs or if social costs deter achievement. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we investigated students’ perceptions of whether they would be harassed or unpopular for trying hard in their mathematics and science classes. We found black, Latino, and Asian students perceived lower risk of experiencing social costs for trying hard than white students. Perceptions of social costs in 9th grade were associated with less rigorous mathematics course-taking, but not lower mathematics test scores or STEM GPA, later in school.     

Work–family conflict in context: The impact of structural and perceived neighborhood disadvantage on work–family conflict

Despite increasing levels of work–family conflict (WFC) among North Americans, few scholars examine the broader contexts in which these conflicts occur. I address this gap by examining how the neighborhood of residence impacts WFC, with a focus on social inequality and disadvantage across neighborhoods. I hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage may impact WFC directly—by introducing ambient stressors that inhibit individuals from successfully balancing competing domain demands, and indirectly—by undermining the psychological resources that would combat the harmful effects of disadvantaged contexts. Using individual and census-level data from Canada, I consider both objective and subjective measures of neighborhood disadvantage and find that, overall, individuals in more disadvantaged neighborhoods are worse off because these contexts increase WFC, while reducing the psychological resources that would otherwise buffer these deleterious effects. However, some of these associations vary by gender. I discuss the broader implications of these findings for neighborhood effects and WFC research.     

去工业化过程中的我国城市新贫困群体与社会排斥

全球化背景下,中国出现了去工业化现象。在去工业化的宏观背景下,我国城市发展过程中出现了一些新贫困群体。这些新贫困群体有着与旧贫困不同的特征。文章描述了我国城市新贫困群体的现状特征,并从社会政策的视角,分析了去工业化过程中我国城市新贫困群体致贫并遭受社会排斥的原因机制,认为非典型就业、低度就业、有业贫穷、自雇贫穷以及二元劳动力市场等都是导致我国城市新贫困群体遭受社会排斥的重要表征和作用因素。     

Are white evangelical Protestants lower class? A partial test of church-sect theory

Testing hypotheses derived from church-sect theory and contemporary research about changes in evangelical Protestants’ social status, I use repeated cross-sectional survey data spanning almost four decades to examine changes in the social-class hierarchy of American religious traditions. While there is little change in the social-class position of white evangelical Protestants from the early 1970s to 2010, there is considerable change across birth cohorts. Results from hierarchical age–period–cohort models show: (1) robust, across-cohort declines in social-class differences between white evangelical Protestants and liberal Protestants, affiliates of “other” religions, and the unaffiliated, (2) stability in social-class differences between white evangelical Protestants and moderate, Pentecostal, and nondenominational Protestants, (3) moderate across-cohort growth in social-class differences between white evangelical Protestants and Catholics, and (4) these patterns vary across indicators of social class. The findings in this article provide partial support for church-sect theory as well as other theories of social change that emphasize the pivotal role of generations.