Navigating bias? An assessment of access, use, and returns to social capital in the school to work transition of descendants of immigrants

Résumé 0

Research in several advanced economies has found that the descendants of immigrants tend to experience persistent difficulties in entering the labour market. This paper tests whether social capital contributes to the disadvantage of descendants of immigrants in the school-to-work transition when compared to their native background counterparts in Sweden. The study uses the CILS4EU survey that provides information on friendship ties measured at age 15 and labour market outcomes at age 19, which allows for an analysis of networks formed before labour market entrance; an extensive control setup; and a comparison of measures of outgoing, incoming and reciprocated friendship relations. Results show that the descendants of immigrants have access to less social capital measured as employed friends, but that the descendants of immigrants are as likely as natives to use their contacts to obtain a job. The returns to social capital are similar in terms of unemployment risk, but descendants of immigrants have a lower payoff in terms of earnings. The study concludes that although social capital contributes to disadvantages, it does so less than other channels, possibly alleviating the effects of discrimination in non-network channels.