THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL NETWORKS AND CONCENTRATED POVERTY ON BLACK AND HISPANIC YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

This paper examines empirically the effect of spatially concentrated p overty on minority youth employment and the role of ''access'' in yout h labor markets. A model, in which information about jobs travels thro ugh social networks, links labor market outcomes and residential conce ntration of poverty. The empirical work uses U.S. Census employment da ta for the largest MSAs, in 1970 and 1980. The key findings are that, although concentration appears to have had no effect on black youth un employment in 1970, the results for 1980 support ''concentration effec ts'' on unemployment for both black and hispanic youth. These effects are sizeable on average, and quite large in some cities.