School Friendship Networks, Homophily and Multiculturalism: Evidence from European Countries

Arbeitspapier

This paper investigates the determinants of school friendship networks among adolescents, proposing a model of network formation and estimating it using a sample (CILS4EU) of about 10,000 secondary school students in four countries: England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. We test the idea that networks arise according to homophily along many characteristics (gender, school achievement and ethnic and cultural backgrounds), and assess the relative importance of each factor. In addition to gender, we find that country of origin, generational status and religion predict friendship for foreign-born students. For country-born individuals, ties depend on a broader set of factors, including socioeconomic status and school achievement. In sum, homophilic preferences go considerably beyond ethnicity. Multiculturalism, which gives prominence to ethnic backgrounds, risks emphasising the differences in that dimension at the expense of affinity in others.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 695

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Network Formation and Analysis: Theory ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
• Subject: Friendship ; Homophily ; Immigration ; Networks ; Social cohesion

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Campigotto, Nicola ; Rapallini, Chiara ; Rustichini, Aldo
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/225502
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET