Micro behavior and macro dynamics: On the role of networks in segregation processes.

ABSTRACT

Although existing research on labor market networks is wide-ranging and thorough, it has not explicitly considered the role that networks play in bringing about a more or less segregated labor market. In this study, we focus on an interorganizational network generated by the mobility of employees. We use large-scale panel data on the entire population in Stockholm during the years 1990 to 2003 to estimate matching models, and we use agent-based models to analyze the complex micro-macro dynamics through which observed gender and ethnic segregation patterns are brought about. Our results suggest that the more important networks are for the matching of individuals to organizations, the less segregated the market is likely to become along gender and ethnic dimensions. The article also shows how a combination of large-scale empirical research and agent-based models can help advance the study of complex micro-macro linkages.

Speaker: Peter Hedström is Professor of Analytical Sociology and the Director of the Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, Sweden. More information.