Like a Good Neighbor: Childhood Neighbors Influence Occupation Choice

Michael Andrews, Ryan R. Hill, Joseph Price and Riley Wilson

No 35810, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Occupation choice is a key determinant of economic mobility. This paper studies how childhood neighbors influence occupational choices and later-life earnings. Using linked historical U.S. census records for over six million boys and four million girls, we reconstruct neighborhood microgeography to identify childhood neighbors and their occupations. We find that living next door to someone in a given occupation increases the probability of working in that same occupation 30 years later by about 10 percent relative to other children on the same street. The transmission effect is higher with more intense exposure, in more connected neighborhoods, and when neighboring families are more similar. Exposure to high-income or highly educated neighbors has lasting economic effects, leading to significant gains in adult income and education even compared to other children from the same street. These findings suggest that neighborhood networks play an important role in shaping intergenerational economic mobility.

JEL-codes: J24 J62 N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-his and nep-lma
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