Interested in contributing to the ongoing conversation on decreasing rates of intergenerational betterment in the United States, the project explores the role of social networks in promoting upward economic mobility. The project utilizes data on zip code-wise connectedness to develop a network between zip codes to explore the relationships between economic connectedness and social mobility. By analyzing the Socio-Economic Status (SES) and connectedness of communities, we investigate how high economic connectedness and high PageRank communities can contribute to higher rates of social mobility.
Authors:
- Shricharan Baskaran
- Charumitra Ravi
- Chaundy McKeever
Data Sources:
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U.S. Census Bureau (2023). Zipcode Tabulation Areas – Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/index.php?year=2022&layergroup=ZIP+Code+Tabulation+Areas
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U.S. Census Bureau (2023). Income in the past 12 months – Retrieved from https://data.census.gov/table?q=median+income&g=010XX00US$8600000&tid=ACSST5Y2021.S1901.
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Bailey, M., Cao, R., Kuchler, T., Stroebel, J., & Wong, A. (2018). Social Connectedness: Measurement, Determinants, and Effects. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32(3), 259-80. Data retrieved from https://data.humdata.org/dataset/social-connectedness-index?fbclid=IwAR1a2gwDSNQ9_PUhZgn6fzmzgQG9DzlBUihtAIPqO7o2jYSKhnaDksiUgeI