Abstract
This paper examines the significance of spatial externalities for youths’ school-to-training transitions in Germany. For this purpose, it is necessary to address the methodological question of how an individual’s spatial context has to be operationalized with respect to both its extent and the problem of spatial autocorrelation. Our analyses show that the “zone of influence” comprises of the whole of Germany, not only close-by districts, and that these effects differ between structurally weak and strong regions. Consequently, assuming that only close proximity affects individual outcomes may disregard relevant contextual influences, and for spatial models that require an a priori definition of the weights for spatial units, it may be erroneous to make a decision based on this assumption. Concerning spatial autocorrelation, we found that neglecting local spatial autocorrelation at the context level causes considerable bias to the estimates, especially for districts that are close to the home district.
Highlights
Introduction and State of the ArtThere is little doubt that social action and, labor market processes are not just structured in terms of time [1] [2] [3], but are localized somewhere [4] [5]
We investigate the relevance of spatial opportunity structures rather than regional opportunity structures for individual labor market processes by examining youths’ transitions from school to firm-based vocational training in Germany
While models 1a and 2a show biased estimates, models 1b and 2b are corrected for spatial autocorrelation, which arises due to commuting
Summary
There is little doubt that social action and, labor market processes are not just structured in terms of time [1] [2] [3], but are localized somewhere [4] [5]. We investigate the relevance of spatial opportunity structures rather than regional opportunity structures for individual labor market processes by examining youths’ transitions from school to firm-based vocational training in Germany To this end, we link retrospectively collected life course data from Germany’s National Educational Panel Study with administrative regional time series data at the level of districts (Landkreise). Spatial autocorrelation of indicators at the context level may lead to underestimating the effects of local and non-local opportunity structures As yet, both methodological questions and their interrelations have not been considered by previous research
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