“I Was Open to Anywhere, It’s Just This Was Easier:” Social Structure, Location Preferences, and the Geographic Concentration of Elite College Graduates

Abstract

Over the past 30 years highly educated workers in the United States have become increasingly concentrated in a relatively small number of cities. This paper uses qualitative interviews to understand the process by which graduates of elite colleges decide where to live following graduation. It shows that many graduates are indifferent about exactly where they live, and find themselves funneled towards certain cities based on geographically uneven access to two key types of information. Facilitative information eases the job search process, enabling graduates to find and obtain opportunities they want, while formative information helps them determine what they want in the first place. Graduates’ position in social structure—in particular their past experiences and personal networks—affects their exposure to both types of information in ways that strongly influence where they end up and on occasion even overcome their stated location preferences. This geographically uneven access to information supplies one mechanism leading to the spatial concentration of human capital.

The Contribution of National Income Inequality to Regional Economic Divergence

“…Some researchers argue that the concentration is driven by labor demand (Diamond 2016;Storper and Scott 2009), while others emphasize the role of lifestyle considerations, particularly for the most well-compensated individuals (Clark et al 2002;Dahl and Sorenson 2010;Florida 2002). Further accounts highlight the role of networks and social norms that funnel elite graduates specifically to certain jobs and cities (Binder, Davis and Bloome 2015;Manduca 2019).…”