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Formation of Migrant Networks
Author(s) -
Comola Margherita,
Mendola Mariapia
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the scandinavian journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.725
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1467-9442
pISSN - 0347-0520
DOI - 10.1111/sjoe.12093
Subject(s) - immigration , accommodation , demographic economics , network structure , function (biology) , migrant workers , social network (sociolinguistics) , sociology , economics , political science , economic growth , psychology , computer science , law , neuroscience , machine learning , evolutionary biology , social media , biology
In this paper, we provide the first direct evidence on the internal structure of the migrant social network. By using a purposely designed survey on Sri Lankan immigrants living in Milan, we show that the pattern of within‐group link formation is heterogeneous across immigrants, and differentiated according to the network function (i.e., accommodation, credit, job‐finding). We find that migrants tend to interact with co‐nationals who come from nearby localities at origin, while the time of arrival has a U‐shaped effect. Once the link is formed, material support is provided mainly to relatives, while early migrant fellows are helpful for job‐finding.