Negative Attitudes, Networks and Education

This paper theoretically and empirically assesses the potential explanations behind the educational gap between young natives and immigrants using two measures, negative attitudes towards immigrants and networking. The paper considers that two these parameters may influence high and uneducated workers as well as immigrants and natives differently, creating different incentives to acquire education for the two groups. Using rich Danish administrative data, this paper finds suggestive evidence rejecting the theoretical case where negative attitudes decrease 1st generation immigrant education and indications that quality of networks seems to matter more for immigrants than the quantity of individuals in a potential network.