Ethnic enclaves, early school leaving, and adolescent crime among immigrant youth

Abstract Spatial concentration of immigrant minorities raises concerns about the intergenerational consequences place-based ethnic inequalities. This study asks how socioeconomic properties neighbourhood environment during adolescence predict future criminal behaviour and early school leaving among youth using administrative data from Norway. The results show that youth’s adolescent exposure to better-educated neighbours same origin country is related lower risks engagement higher likelihoods completing upper-secondary education, while growing up in areas with less-educated coethnics associated adverse outcomes. Although effect sizes are modest, these relationships robust adjustment for a broad set background characteristics fixed effects at level neighbourhoods national-origin groups. Coethnic neighbours’ educational resources more strongly crime disadvantaged family backgrounds. Overall, findings support predictions influential theories assimilation which emphasize access social capital found within local enclaves shape life chances youth.