Bram Lancee

Ethnic, religious and economic diversity in Dutch neighbourhoods: explaining quality of contact with neighbours, trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust

Several studies conclude that ethnic diversity tends to reduce social capital. There may, however, be other forms of diversity that also affect social capital, and their inclusion might make the negative effect of ethnic diversity spurious. Besides ethnic diversity, we identify economic and religious diversity, as well as language proficiency in the neighbourhood. This study explores data from the Netherlands showing how these four dimensions of diversity in the neighbourhood affect the quality of contact with neighbours, trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust for immigrant and native residents. We find that ethnic diversity in the neighbourhood still lowers the quality of contact with neighbours. For natives, ethnic diversity is positively associated with inter-ethnic trust, whereas for immigrants there is no effect. Furthermore, for natives, religious diversity negatively affects the quality of contact with neighbours and inter-ethnic trust, whereas for immigrants this effect is positive. Economic diversity positively impacts on trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust. We do not find an effect of language proficiency. We conclude that, besides ethnic diversity, other forms of diversity in the neighbourhood do also affect trust. Furthermore, diversity can undermine, but also build, various aspects of trust. Last, diversity in the neighbourhood does not mean the same for immigrant and native residents.

The Economic Returns of Immigrants' Bonding and Bridging Social Capital: The Case of the Netherlands

This paper aims at explaining to what extent social capital can help immigrants in the Netherlands make headway on the labor market. Two forms of social capital are identified. Bonding refers to a dense network with thick trust and is measured as the strength of family ties and trust in the family. Bridging implies a crosscutting network with thin trust and is measured as inter-ethnic contacts and outward orientation. It is examined to what extent bonding and bridging for immigrants in the Netherlands can be associated with a higher likelihood of employment and higher income. Results show that (1) bridging networks are positively associated with both employment and income; (2) bonding networks do not affect economic outcomes; and (3) levels of trust (neither thick nor thin) cannot explain economic outcomes.

The economic returns of bonding and bridging social capital for immigrant men in Germany

Abstract Using longitudinal data, this paper analyses the effect of different forms of social capital on the likelihood of employment and the occupational status of first generation immigrant men in Germany. This allows me to examine to what extent social capital of the bonding and the bridging types yield different returns. The study considers how contacts with natives, co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital are beneficial to the economic position of immigrant men. Random effects and fixed effects models show that strong inter-ethnic ties are beneficial both for employment and occupational status. There is no effect of co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital. It is concluded that, when using panel data, bridging social capital contributes to a better economic position and bonding social capital does not.

Group Conflict Theory in a Longitudinal Perspective: Analyzing the Dynamic Side of Ethnic Competition

One of the most established approaches to explain attitudes toward immigration is group conflict theory. However, even though the theory was articulated in dynamic terms, previous research has almost exclusively tested it through cross-sectional analyses. The aim of this study is to disentangle the dynamic character of ethnic competition from more permanent determinants of ethnic threat. The findings show that a remarkable variation of concern over immigration, usually attributed to permanent positions of economic vulnerability, disappears when within-person variation is modeled. In line with a dynamic approach of ethnic competition, becoming unemployed or being laid off increases concern over immigration. This effect is independent of social class.

Social Connectedness and the Transition From Work to Retirement

OBJECTIVES Although there are numerous studies on the role of social connections in early working life, research that examines how social connectedness matters in the later stages of a career is scarce. The present study analyzes to what extent social connectedness affects the timing of the transition from work to retirement. METHODS We draw on data from the German Socioeconomic Panel Study (GSOEP) from the years 1985-2009 (N = 10,225), and we apply techniques of event history analysis. Social connectedness includes social gatherings with friends, relatives, and neighbors (informal participation) as well as engagement in voluntary and civic associations and local politics (formal participation). RESULTS The findings demonstrate that social connectedness matters for the transition from work to retirement, but its impact depends on the type of participation. Whereas informal participation results in earlier retirement, formal participation delays labor force withdrawal. DISCUSSION The findings suggest a trade-off between informal participation and work in later life, which leads people with frequent social contacts to opt for early retirement. By contrast, the fact that formal participation is associated with postponed retirement points to employment benefits of volunteering and civic engagement among older workers.

Job search methods and immigrant earnings: A longitudinal analysis of the role of bridging social capital

This paper analyses how finding a new job affects the earnings of immigrants. I hypothesize that job changes are more successful for individuals who have access to bridging social capital. Using data from the German Socio-economic Panel (1996–2011), fixed-effects models show that finding a new job results in higher earnings only when immigrants have both native German friends and high levels of human capital. The effect is, however, not dependent on the search method: both formal (advertisement, employment agency), and informal search methods (referrals via friends) result in higher earnings. The presented evidence shows that bridging social capital can be activated and converted into a better position on the labour market. However, the effect of contact with natives is limited to those who are higher educated, or who have good German language proficiency, suggesting that only those individuals who are better off already profit from bridging social capital.

Self-rated health and sickness-related absence: The modifying role of civic participation

In this study, we examined civic participation as an effect modifier between self-rated health and absence from work. Building on the theoretical framework of social exchange, we use German data to test a conceptual model relating self-rated health to sickness-related absence, as well as the interaction between self-rated health and civic participation. We used the 1996 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. Since sickness-related absence is a censored variable, we used a tobit regression model. The results confirmed the hypotheses: the effect between self-rated health and sickness-related absence was modified by civic participation, indicating that the effect of self-rated health on sickness-related absence is less pronounced for people who participate more as opposed to those who report less civic participation. In other words, those who are unhealthy and participate more, are fewer days absent from work. We argue that civic participation buffers the relationship between self-rated health and sickness-related absence because those who participate more have more resources to fulfill self-regulatory needs. Our findings emphasize the importance of civic participation outside the workplace for people at work when they do not feel physically well.

Does Rural Origin Affect Immigrants' Contact with Natives? A Study of Turks in Six European Countries

This paper analyses differences in rural and urban origin in visits from natives and the occurrence of interethnic marriages of Turkish immigrants in six European countries. We argue that values and human capital explain the relationship between rural-urban origin and contact with natives. The value-based hypothesis stipulates that differences in contact with natives are due to values and predispositions that correlate with peoples rural and urban origin. The human capital hypothesis predicts that variation between rural and urban origin can be ascribed to differences in human capital accumulation. Using the Six Country Immigrant Incorporation Comparative Survey (SCIICS), the results show that Turkish immigrants with a rural origin have fewer visits from natives and are less likely to intermarry. Furthermore, educational attainment, destination country language proficiency, religious identification and identification with the origin culture explain a substantial part of the rural origin effect. However, also when accounting for values and human capital, we find a significant direct effect of rural origin, suggesting that rural and urban immigrants build social relations differently.

The Negative Side Effects of Vocational Education: A Cross-National Analysis of the Relative Unemployment Risk of Young Non-Western Immigrants in Europe

Unemployment rates among immigrant youth are much higher than among the native-born population. Furthermore, youth unemployment rates vary considerably across countries. Yet there is little research that explains cross-national differences in immigrant’s relative unemployment risk. This article seeks to explain cross-national variation in ethnic penalties in youth unemployment with institutional and economic differences. Using data from the European Union Labor Force Survey (2004-2012) and focusing on recent non-Western immigrants of 15 to 24 years, the presented evidence shows that immigrant’s relative unemployment risk is larger in countries where the schooling system is more vocationally oriented because immigrant youth lacks the specific skills and educational signals that employers demand. The findings furthermore show that ethnic penalties are not associated with the strictness of employment protection legislation or with the inclusiveness of integration policies.

Income Inequality and Gambling: A Panel Study in the United States (1980–1997)

While there are many studies that examine the consequences of increasing income inequality, its effects on gambling behavior have not yet been studied. In this article, we argue that income inequality increases the average expenditure on gambling. Using longitudinal state-level data for the United States (1980–1997), we estimate fixed-effects models to analyze two types of gambling expenditure: pari-mutuel betting and lottery spending. Our findings show a positive effect of increasing income inequality on lottery expenditure. For pari-mutuel betting, the result is not linear, as for higher levels of income inequality, the positive effect decreases, suggesting that the effect flattens out when the increase in income inequality is highest. We argue that there are three reasons why we find a positive effect of income inequality of gambling expenditure: increasing mobility aspirations, availability of resources in the upper part of the distribution, and status anxiety in the lower part of the distribution.