Socioeconomic Origins Research Articles

Let's innovate! but for what value(s)? Towards an economic geography of valuation in markets and society

In an endeavor to comprehend the socio-economic origins of the value added created within and between territories, economic geography has tended to overlook how value is itself socio-economically constructed in space. I claim, in line with economic sociology and pragmatist market theories, that the socio-economic construction of value should be at the core of our contemporary understanding of innovation to address not merely the economic issues of globalization, but also the grand societal challenges we face today. Value creation should not be regarded as a consequential output of production and innovation organized across space, but as an ongoing process of social, economic and technical co-construction that is contingent on both time and space. This is not to say that one should abandon research on innovation in economic geography, but rather that it should be approached as a question of valuation. In this approach, value creation is not the consequence of innovation, but the process and the result of socially undertaken changes that are co-existential with innovation around two interdependent issues: innovation as relational and transactional valuation in markets and as institutional and political valuation in society. This research should also be future-oriented and should reposition materiality at its center.

Do you speak Français? The hidden social structures of bilingualism at an international boarding school

This article investigates linguistic practices related to students’ social and academic lives – something that has been overlooked in the research literature on international schooling and elite boarding schools. Pierre Bourdieu reminds us that language has a social dimension linked to relations of symbolic power. Boarding schools serve as excellent case studies on how language structures social life due to their closed social space. Drawing on Bourdieu’s relational sociology, an ethnography was carried out at the College of Europe, an international private boarding school. Findings show that the practice of bilingual code-switching was endowing the institution with social distinction while hierarchically dividing its students. Three modes of student attitudes towards bilingualism were identified. While students’ bilingual attitudes and strategies were correlated to their social positions, socioeconomic origins and previous trajectories, the former were not deterministically an effect of said social position, evidenced by an observed case of habitus transformation.

The Continuity of Adversity: Negative Emotionality Links Early Life Adversity With Adult Stressful Life Events

Adversity that exhibits continuity across the life course has long-term detrimental effects on physical and mental health. Using 920 participants from the Dunedin Study, we tested the following hypotheses: (a) Children (ages 3–15) who experienced adversity would also tend to experience adversity in adulthood (ages 32–45), and (2) interim personality traits in young adulthood (ages 18–26) would help account for this longitudinal association. Children who experienced more adversity tended to also experience more stressful life events as adults, β = 0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.04, 0.18], p = .002. Negative emotionality—particularly its subfacet alienation, characterized by mistrust of others—helped explain this childhood-to-midlife association (indirect effect: β = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.09], p < .001). Results were robust to adjustment for sex, socioeconomic origins, childhood IQ, preschool temperament, and other young-adult personality traits. Prevention of early life adversity and treatment of young-adult negative emotionality may reduce vulnerability to later life stress and thereby promote the health of aging adults.

RELATIONSHIP DISSOLUTION AND BIOLOGICAL AGING IN MID LIFE

Abstract Several decades of empirical research has shown that people who experience relationship dissolution—such as romantic breakups, divorce, and bereavement—have increased risk for poor health across a range of disease outcomes. However, it remains less clear which physiological pathways might best explain links between relationship dissolution and later health. One candidate mechanism that might help explain this wide range of observed health outcomes is accelerated biological aging, which is theorized to represent a common cause of age-related chronic diseases, disability, and early mortality. The current study examined whether relationship dissolution, measured across a 20-year period of adulthood, was associated with biological age in midlife using participants (n = 910) from the Dunedin Study, a birth cohort assessed over four decades of life. Relationship dissolution was assessed using a count of romantic breakups from age 26 until age 44 from life history calendars. Biological aging was assessed using a midlife aging factor derived from four validated measures of aging—the Pace of Aging, gait speed, BrainAGE, and facial age—assessed at age 45. We found that people with more breakups in adulthood had more advanced biological age in midlife, β = 0.10, 95% CI [0.04, 0.16], p = .003. This association remained when controlling for adversity and poor health in childhood, as well as disadvantaged socioeconomic origins and time spent in romantic relationships, β = 0.09, 95% CI [0.03, 0.15], p = .007. The results suggest accelerated aging may be one physiological mechanism linking relationship dissolution to poor health.

Los Roget y la invención del telescopio. Una construcción historiogrñafica en España desde el siglo XIX hasta la actualidad

Certainly, the telescope was never invented, in the sense that it was not invented by a single person and in a single place, but it was the result of a long and complex process, in which different characters, spaces, ideas and materials participated. Among them, we find the Rogets, a family of spectacle makers who were traditionally built in Spain as national heroes, but who have been contextualized by the most up-to-date historiography. This article studies the academic treatment that these Rogets have had in the Spanish historical literature on science and technology, as well as in the international arena, with the aim of understanding and exposing in a comparative way the historical construction of the Rogets and the origins of the telescope in Spain, from de end of 19th century to the present, as well as the new results on these artisans and the multiple technical, mathematical and socioeconomic origins of the telescope.

Revisiting the power of future expectations and educational path dependencies

Individuals from more advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and those with loftier future expectations typically have higher educational attainment. However, it is important to understand just how consequential future expectations are for educational attainment independent of socioeconomic origins—because these expectations might enable intergenerational social mobility. Moreover, it is unclear whether institutional structures moderate the influences of socioeconomic origins and future expectations on educational attainment. I address these questions by analyzing educational attainment as it relates to transitions in a system that offers multiple educational tracks. Using data from a 15-year longitudinal study conducted in Switzerland (N = 4986), I analyze transitions from lower- to upper-secondary education (academic vs. vocational tracks) and from there to university. Path models reveal that both socioeconomic origins and future expectations are significantly associated with individuals’ probability of moving along academic paths and into university, but future expectations have a strong unique predictive power even when controlling for socioeconomic origins. However, because the education system partially channels educational trajectories along distinct educational tracks, it minimizes the beneficial effect of future expectations on educational attainment and—by extension—intergenerational social mobility. I conclude that socioeconomic advantage and optimistic future expectations may only shape educational attainment to the extent that institutional opportunity structures allow such resources to take effect.

Resistindo ao Racismo: Narrativas de Vida e Carreira de Universitários Negros

Abstract The present study aimed to identify how racism appears in the lives and careers of Black undergraduate students in a Brazilian Public Higher Education Institution. For this purpose, this study conducted 27 narrative interviews with self-declared black undergraduates, which were analyzed using the technique of thematic Biography and Narrative Analysis. The results indicated that despite the existence of distinctions between the undergraduates’ trajectories, usually caused by socioeconomic differences, racism similarly impacts their lives and careers, presenting itself in three frequent themes, named by the researchers as: “Experiences with Racism”, “Awareness of Racism”, and “Management of Racism”. It was found that, although there are distinctions between experiences, motivated especially by socioeconomic origin and available opportunities, all participants manage the effects of racism, individually and collectively, leading them to changes in career prospects, to enable the construction of viable professional trajectories to achieve their ambitions.

Social origin and expectation of postgraduate enrolment among spanish university undergraduates mediation and moderation effect of fields of study and grades

The effect of social origin on educational expectations has mostly focused on adolescents. Yet, the expansion of higher education across the OECD area has made the transition from bachelor to master programs increasingly consequential for inequality of educational opportunities and social mobility. Applying multinomial logistic regression to data from a survey carried out in 2018 among university students in three Spanish regions, our research reveals the existence of a still meaningful effect of socioeconomic origin on expectations of postgraduate enrolment among university undergraduates, even after controlling for academic progression, performance and choice of field of study. In other words, the analysis provides evidence of a secondary effect of social origin on educational expectations at this late stage of the educational career. Multinomial logistic regression and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method applied to the same data also reveal the inexistence of a mediation effect of field of studies or academic performance. In this sense, our evidence points at a clearly higher weight of the secondary effect, rather than the primary effect of social origin, on the transmission of educational advantage to expectations of postgraduate enrolment among undergraduates. Yet, a moderating effect of both fields of studies and academic performance does exist. As regards field of studies, against our initial expectation, the effect of social origin turns out to be stronger in some fields of studies with better labour market access (strong fields). Regarding academic performance, the sensitiveness of postgraduate enrolment expectation to grades obtained so far decreases with social origin, thus revealing a lingering compensatory effect of social origin at the end of the educational trajectory.

A Study of Elite Education in Chinese International High Schools

The article examines the meaning of elite and elite education, as well as the characteristics of elite schools in China. Elite schools are institutions that offer education to a small number of predominantly middle or upper-class students. The admissions process for these schools is competitive and costly, resulting in a majority of middle- or upper-class pupils. The schools are also distinguished by the acquisition of cultural capital, a resource that embodies or generates cultural worth. Due to the lack of cultural capital, students from lower socioeconomic origins are excluded from top universities. In addition, the piece discusses the effects of tiny class sizes in top institutions, which are touted as a way to provide each student individualised attention. Yet, the effect of class size on student progress is dependent on instructional strategies. The article claimed that elite education has caused a vicious cycle of increased educational inequality, which has widened the gap between socioeconomic classes.

“I wish I could say, ‘Yeah, both the same’”: Cultural stereotypes and individual differentiations of preservice teachers about different low socioeconomic origins

Previous studies have shown that (preservice) teachers have more negative stereotypes toward students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds than toward students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. School-specific studies on different low socioeconomic origins have been non-existent so far. Evidence collected in non-school settings shows that welfare recipients are stereotyped more negatively than the working poor. This mixed methods study therefore surveyed cultural stereotypes and individual constructions of difference concerning the working poor and welfare recipients by German preservice teachers. In the quantitative study (N = 196), more stereotypes were mentioned in relation to welfare recipients than to the working poor, and more negative and fewer positive stereotypes were mentioned in relation to welfare recipients. In addition to social status, the individual characteristics (e.g., commitment) of welfare recipients were more frequently stereotyped negatively than those of the working poor. In the qualitative interview study (N = 10), preservice teachers reported that the general public perceives welfare recipients more negatively than the working poor. Preservice teachers who obtain their information about welfare recipients from public perception attributed individual failure (e.g., low commitment) as the cause for welfare recipients and structural failure (e.g., incorrect decisions by policy-makers) as the cause for the working poor. Other preservice teachers disagreed with the negative public perception based on personal experience and described welfare recipients as only being in a worse social position than the working poor. The results of the mixed methods study reveal the need to distinguish between different low socioeconomic origins in future stereotype studies.

A Data-Driven Causal Modelling Analysis of Socio-Economic Factors and Its Impact on Student’s Performance: A Case Study of a Junior High School in Bali

Efforts to understand student performance have long been a highly-researched topic in the field of applied education computing. Current research in the field still places its focus on understanding and analyzing student performance using definitive variables such as the student’s scores and their cognitive capabilities, which by themselves already explain the student’s performance. The great diversity of Indonesian culture, which includes people from a wide range of socioeconomic origins, makes it all the more surprising that so little research has been done to examine the hidden socioeconomic aspects that may affect student performance. Research conducted on a single school may not be generalizable because of the diversity among them in terms of the elements that affect students' academic outcomes. In this investigation, we employ a causal modelling strategy that is data-driven to examine academic achievement. Data was retrieved from a public junior high school in Bali, Indonesia, and then processed with the Non-combinatorial Optimization via Trace Exponential and Augmented lagRangian for Structure Learning (NOTEARS) and Bayesian Network algorithm in order to discover a latent causal structure and the effect between variables discovered from the structure. Findings show that the average skill score of a student is significantly influenced by the distance from school, the education level and income of parents, and their place in the family. Meanwhile, the average knowledge score is mainly influenced by the average skill score, the order in the family, and the parent’s income level. The results of the study also show potential for practical implications where schools, researchers, and governments, can rethink their approach to education by analyzing data with the proposed approach. The limitations of this study include the quality of data to discover patterns and the limited number of variables used to study student performance factors. Future research may consider the use of more holistic, complete variables in order to discover more insights regarding student performance.

Vocational education in Sweden and youth transitions to working life – Challenges and possibilities in the light of a local follow-up study

The basis of this article is a follow-up study of a cohort of pupils in the third largest city of Sweden, Malmö. The pupils finished fourth grade at compulsory school in 2008. We have data about every individual in the cohort as well as corresponding information about their parents. The information concern educational choices, educational accomplishments, employment relations, incomes from work and different kinds of social benefits and allowances. We got annual data on these variables from 2008 until the last follow-up year 2019 when most of the individuals were 21 years old. Most of them left upper secondary school in 2017 when they were 19 years old. They were therefore in the beginning of their transition 2019, either aiming for education or work. The results show that vocational education generated favourable conditions for work and incomes provided that the diploma goals ware reached. Individuals with foreign background and with unfavourable socioeconomic origins were overrepresented among those that didn’t reach the diploma goals; this was true for students on VET-programmes as well as higher education preparatory programmes. It should also be mentioned that experiences from a national programme in upper secondary school generally improved conditions for establishment. Those that didn’t reach the goals of compulsory school and weren’t eligible for studying at a national programme met the greatest difficulties in finding jobs and decent income levels.

Output response of non‐point source pollutants and its driving mechanisms of different arable land use patterns

AbstractThe irrational use of arable land has caused increased nutrient loss and aggravated non‐point source (NPS) pollution. This natural process has a significant socioeconomic origin. However, because of the inconsistency between the simulation scale of NPS pollution mechanism models and the statistical calibre of socioeconomic factors, the quantitative expression of the relationship between socioeconomic development, arable land use, and NPS pollutant output needs further exploration. We improved the mechanism model using a flow accumulation algorithm to construct a measure of the NPS pollutant output response at the administrative region scale. The mediating effect test confirmed that socioeconomic factors such as labour transfer, farmland property rights, large‐scale operations, agricultural technological progress and risk aversion were also fundamental drivers that affected the NPS pollutant output by changing the arable land use form factors. The mediating drivers included endowment, landscape morphology, management system, planting mode and production capacity. The average total phosphorus concentrations per unit area in townships with various arable land use patterns were grain and economical crop extensive operations (0.83 mg/L); grain and economical crop scale operations (0.54 mg/L); grain, oil, and cotton scale operations (0.45 mg/L); and suburban compound operations (0.44 mg/L). We found that the degree of influence and path of each fundamental and mediating driver on NPS pollutant output concentrations showed clear differences between townships with different patterns, which were the primary reasons for the significant differences in NPS pollutant output responses.

Accessibility Analysis of Childbirth Service Centers Using Geospatial Techniques in Rural Magadi, Kenya

Accessibility to childbirth services is a necessity despite geographic, demographic and socio-economic origin. The distribution pattern between health facilities and households in rural areas is not as extensively researched as those of urban areas, especially pastoral communities. Challenges in accessing social amenities including childbirth service centres are dominant. This study aims to assess the spatial accessibility between the location of households and the location of the childbirth health facility in Magadi Ward. The study employed geospatial techniques to visualize the spatial distribution of households and health facilities; and the road connectivity between them. To represent the variation, accessibility zones were modelled using the Euclidean distance tool. Buffer analysis was also conducted to indicate the relationship between the served and unserved areas in regard to the five kilometres Ministry of Health recommended radius. Coordinates of 246 households were randomly picked from the eight community unit clusters in the Magadi ward. The findings revealed the number of women who delivered at health facilities to be 38.2%, while those who delivered at home were 61.8% contrary to the majority being within the service area of the buffer. The most accessible zones were located in the central and upper western parts of Magadi Ward. The utilization of antenatal and postnatal care services and health facilities for the place of delivery differed significantly. The results indicate the poor use of health facilities as a place of delivery for women who utilized childbirth services in the last year, prior to data collection. This provides valuable information and location-based evidence of low access to health facilities for childbirth services, and therefore, offers guidance on sound decision making and strategies to improve on the accessibility of childbirth services.

Impact of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms in OXTR and AVPR1a genes on their expression in persons with ASD.

IntroductionAutism spectrum disorder is a heterogeneous group of disorders that affects virtually every population, regardless of their ethnic or socioeconomic origin. In recent years, the attention of researchers has been drawn to the participation of the oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic systems in the development of autism spectrum disorders. A relatively large number of studies have investigated the association of SNPs in these genes with the development of ASD, however, there is a lack of studies in the literature focusing on their actual effect on expression and on the effect of their expression on the risk of ASD.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to assess the levels of expression of OXTR and AVPR1a genes and evaluate their links with both risk of ASD and genotypes of the most studied polymorphisms.MethodsThe study included 132 people, 77.5% of whom were male (n = 100). 113 participants (85.6%) were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders confirmed by the ADOS-2 test conducted by a certified diagnostician. In this group, men constituted 76.1% of the population (n = 77). The remaining 28 people did not have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, and in the ADOS-2 study they obtained the result below the cut-off level. The mean age in the whole group was 14.4 years (95% CI: 13.92-14.93).ResultsSignificant decrease in expression of the OXTR gene was found in case of rs53576 where presence of the alternative allele (G) was linked to the 20% decrease in expression (2^(-ΔΔCt) = 0.8). In case of AVPR1a alternative allele (T) of SNP rs10877969 was linked to the 20% increase in the gene expression(2^(-ΔΔCt) = 1.197). SNPs rs2254298 (2^(-ΔΔCt) = 0.97) and rs7294536 (2^(-ΔΔCt) = 0.97) did not influence expression of the appropriate genes in significant way. In comparison between the test and control group in participants with confirmed diagnosis of ASD 13% lower expression of AVPR1a was found (2^(-ΔΔCt) = 0.87).ConclusionsGenotype of SNPs rs53576 and rs10877969 significantly influenced the levels of expression of the genes OXTR and AVPR1a respectively. In case of rs2254298 and rs7294536 observed effects were negligible. Presence of ASD diagnosis was linked to the 13% lower expression of AVPR1a. Abnormalities in AVPR1a expression seem to be more important for the development of autistic traits than the more attention-grabbing gene abnormalities for the oxytocinergic system.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The role of single nucleotide polymorphisms within genes for oxytocin and vasopressin receptors in the presentation and severity of autistic traits

IntroductionAutism spectrum disorder is a heterogeneous group of disorders that affects virtually every population, regardless of their ethnic or socioeconomic origin. The pathogenesis of ASD is probably multifactorial, based on interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Their key elements are disorders in the field of social communication, establishing and maintaining relationships and the so-called stereotypical and repetitive patterns of interests and activities. However, of the above- mentioned symptoms, the most important are communication disorders, which are the basis for many of the functional difficulties observed in these patients.ObjectivesThe aim of the presented study was to analyze the clinical picture of social cognition deficits in males with autism spectrum disorders, and to link its elements with the frequency of alleles of selected polymorphisms within the OXTR and AVPR1A genes.MethodsThe study included 132 people, 77.5% of whom were male (n = 100). 113 participants (85.6%) were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders confirmed by the ADOS-2 test conducted by a certified diagnostician. In this group, men constituted 76.1% of the population (n = 77). The remaining 28 people did not have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, and in the ADOS-2 study they obtained the result below the cut-off level. The mean age in the whole group was 14.4 years (95% CI: 13.92-14.93).ResultsA higher frequency of the rs53576 A allele and the rs10877969 C allele could be observed than expected on the basis of the European / world population. In the case of the rs7294536 and rs2254298 polymorphisms, no differences in the distribution of alleles in relation to the expected values were observed. In the network analysis reference allele (T) of SNPs rs10877969 was linked to the higher outcome of the “social affect” domain of ADOS-2 and through it influenced ADOS-2 outcome. All other SNPs did not significantly affect neither domain of ADOS-2. Reference allele (A) of rs53576 was linked with higher odds ratio of clinical diagnosis of ASD in logistic regression. Similarly the rs10877969 polymorphism within the AVPR1a gene significantly shaped the risk of autism spectrum disorders, while in the combined analysis with rs7294536 within the haplotype, the observed effect was significantly stronger.ConclusionsThe studied polymorphisms may constitute an element of larger haplotypes which, depending on the number of mutated alleles, may determine the severity of autism spectrum traits, from the neurotypical population, through people with a broad autism phenotype, to people diagnosed with ASD. Further research is required on the potential clinical application of genotype analysis of the studied polymorphisms and on the exact mechanism of their impact on the risk of ASD and the development of social cognition disorders.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The socio-economic origins of left-wing populism in Ukraine

The socio-economic impoverishment of the population due to the prolonged structural crises of the economy has led to the phenomenon of left-wing populism in Ukraine. Economic attitudes related to populist ideas were analyzed based on empirical data. Ukrainians' support for populism was manifested in their attitude to the structure of property in the economy and mechanisms for ensuring material well-being. However, if the support of the dominance of private/state ownership in the economy is conditioned by the factor of macro-regional demarcation, then the attitude towards government/individual responsibility for the welfare of citizens is determined by utilitarian considerations. Instead, Ukrainians' populist demands regarding employment, wages, and industrial competition, although they have a place in public opinion, nevertheless a significant share of citizens understand the impossibility of these slogans under market conditions. This actually explains the predominance of socio-cultural determinants in relation to the ethical aspects of economic life. In addition, the connection of populist orientations with left-wing political and ideological identity indicates the existence of post-Soviet resentment among a significant part of the population of Ukraine. Such dual existence of «old» and «new» institutions still remains a space for the spread of populist orientations, which will manifest itself in the post-war period.

Trace Elements Open a New Direction for the Diagnosis of Atherosclerosis.

Abnormal or excessive accumulation of adipose tissue leads to a condition called obesity. Long-term positive energy balance arises when energy intake surpasses energy expenditure, which increases the risk of metabolic and other chronic diseases, such as atherosclerosis. In industrialized countries, the prevalence of coronary heart disease is positively correlated with the human development index. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACD) is among the primary causes of death on a global scale. There is evidence to support the notion that individuals from varied socioeconomic origins may experience varying mortality effects as a result of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, raised cholesterol levels, and high body mass index (BMI). However, it is believed that changes in the concentration of trace elements in the human body are the main contributors to the development of some diseases and the transition from a healthy to a diseased state. Metal trace elements, non-metal trace elements, and the sampling site will be examined to determine whether trace elements can aid in the diagnosis of atherosclerosis. This article will discuss whether trace elements, discussed under three sections of metal trace elements, non-metal trace elements, and the sampling site, can participate in the diagnosis of atherosclerosis.

Socio-economic Origins of the Apartheid Regime in South Africa

The aim of this article is to analyze the economic dimension of the apartheid regime in South Africa by studying the role of socio-economic processes in its formation and development. The author describes the situation on the labor market and in the economy of the country at the beginning of the XX century and covers the first steps of the white government to establish segregation of Africans in the economy before the official establishment of apartheid. Particular attention is paid to the problem of deep socio-economic contradictions within the white community (between Afrikaners and descendants of English colonists), which seriously motivated Boers with low education and qualifications to fight for political domination in the state to comply with their own economic interests. The author also highlights the role of the local population in the economic development of the country and labor migration processes in the context of the ongoing industrial transformation of the South African economy. On the example of the situation in education the beginning of the processes of forced emancipation of Africans is demonstrated, which, however, was a limited one. In conclusion, it was the economic (and not ideological or political) dimension of apartheid that was key in its development and largely determined the essence of the regime, designed to preserve the existing system of maintaining the economic potential of Afrikaners in confrontation with the non-white population (by restricting their rights and using them as cheap labor) and competing English-speaking residents of the country (by creating conditions for the redistribution of capital in favor of Afrikaners). At the same time, the priority of the economic motives of apartheid predetermined its well-known flexibility, manifested in the permissibility of moving away from following strict ideological constructs for the sake of economic expediency, which resulted in a certain gradual emancipation in the field of education of Africans and the inability to achieve complete segregation of racial groups. The more intensively the economy developed, the more significant the role of the black population in supporting its growth became, and the weaker the ideological dogma of the apartheid regime was.

Escaping one’s disadvantage? Neighbourhoods, socioeconomic origin and children’s adult life outcomes

Abstract This study investigates if neighbourhoods can alter the strong relationship between parental background and children’s adult outcomes. In particular, we examine if neighbourhood effects are heterogeneous in such a way that they are particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and if school quality has a mediating effect in this equation. Using register data and individualized neighbourhoods, we follow five full birth cohorts of individuals born from 1983 to 1987. We examine the interaction between social background and neighbourhoods in shaping (i) the risk of children relying on social welfare when they are aged 30, and (ii) the probability of belonging to the highest income decile at age 30–34. Growing up in a resource-rich neighbourhood is associated with better life outcomes. Contrary to what several neighbourhood theories predict, we find that neighbourhood effects operate similarly regardless of social background. Differences in peer composition of schools does not explain these local neighbourhood effects, whereas own school results attenuate neighbourhood effects substantially. Our findings are in contrast to results from the United States studies but are in line with historical Swedish studies; and contribute to further disentangling the various mechanisms through which the neighbourhood operates.