Coworker Networks, Residential Neighbors, and Earnings Growth
Publication Date
4-19-2022
Grant Type
Early Career Research Award
Description
I study the relevance of former coworkers and neighbors to explain job mobility and earnings growth patterns for workers in the United States. Using matched employer-employee data from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, I construct individual-level proxies of new job opportunities available to workers using the number of new hires in firms where previous coworkers and close neighbors work. I propose an empirical framework to isolate the effect of individual-level networks from other determinants of job mobility. By merging these records to multiple rounds of the American Community Survey, I also examine heterogeneity across occupations and college majors. The findings from this project will contribute to the literature studying differences in outside employment options across workers and provide new insights about the influence of networks in the job search process and its long-run impacts.