Abstract
Most of the research literature explaining the level of economic mobility in the United States focuses on characteristics of individuals or families. This article expands the focus beyond the individual and the family to consider features of communities and cities. Although evidence is strong that features of neighborhoods and cities have causal effects on individual economic mobility, there is much less evidence on the most relevant mechanisms. The article reviews the available evidence at both levels of analysis before concluding with a discussion of the implications for social policy.
- Copyright © 2016 by Russell Sage Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Reproduction by the United States Government in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose. I thank Katharine Bradbury, Nathaniel Hendren, Robert Putnam, and Robert Triest for insightful feedback and ideas for the article. I would also like to thank Jacob Faber and Bryan Graham, respectively, for their collaborative work on projects related to neighborhoods and economic mobility. Much of this collaborative research has informed the argument in this article. Direct correspondence to: Patrick Sharkey at patrick.sharkey{at}nyu.edu, New York University, 295 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012.
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