Working Paper: NBER ID: w16055
Authors: David J. Harding; Lisa Gennetian; Christopher Winship; Lisa Sanbonmatsu; Jeffrey R. Kling
Abstract: We motivate future neighborhood research through a simple model that considers youth educational outcomes as a function of neighborhood context, neighborhood exposure, individual vulnerability to neighborhood effects, and non-neighborhood educational inputs -- with a focus on effect heterogeneity. Research using this approach would require three steps. First, researchers would need to shift focus away from broad theories of neighborhood effects and examine the specific mechanisms through which the characteristics of a neighborhood might affect an individual. Second, neighborhood research would need new and far more nuanced data. Third, more research designs would be needed that can unpack the causal effects, if any, of specific neighborhood characteristics as they operate through well-specified mechanisms.
Keywords: neighborhood effects; education outcomes; youth; effect heterogeneity; social settings
JEL Codes: I21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| neighborhood context (n) (R23) | educational outcomes (y) (I21) |
| individual exposure (e) (C20) | educational outcomes (y) (I21) |
| vulnerability (v) (H84) | educational outcomes (y) (I21) |
| neighborhood poverty (n) (I32) | educational achievement (y) (I24) |
| social and cultural processes (m) (Z10) | educational achievement (y) (I24) |
| neighborhood violence (R23) | educational outcomes (y) (I21) |
| family support (J12) | educational outcomes (y) (I21) |
| coping strategies (E71) | educational outcomes (y) (I21) |