Spatial effects on individual social capital: Differentiating the constraints of local occupational structures
Journal
Social Networks
Journal Volume
64
Pages
194-211
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Fu Y.-C.
Abstract
Recent studies have paid more attention to how position-generated social capital varies by an individual's characteristics, and less to how geographical distributions of occupations may constrain position-specific connections. By integrating two national surveys from the United States, we differentiate the extent to which individual social capital fluctuates by occupational compositions at the county, metropolis, and state levels. Multilevel analyses show that when more people at all three levels work in education, training, and library occupations, residents have a greater chance to gain access to professional-type resources. Similar spatial effects on farming and production resources, however, are more apparent at the county level. Not only does the association between individual social capital and local occupational structures vary across different occupations, but the magnitude of such spatial effects also differs by the scope of the geographical areas. The findings underscore how contextual factors and geographical location may contribute to building occupation-specific network resources. ? 2020 Elsevier B.V.
Subjects
Multilevel analysis
Network resources
Occupational structure
Position generator
Social capital
Type
journal article