Why Organizational Ties Matter for Neighborhood Effects: Resource Access through Childcare Centers

Abstract

How does neighborhood poverty affect the poor's ability to access resources such as health care and job information? Most studies have focused on individuals or neighborhoods; we focus on organizations — specifically, whether organizations are less connected if located in poor neighborhoods. Our case study is childcare centers. We ask whether centers' organizational ties provide parents access to important resources, and whether neighborhood poverty affects this capacity. Based on qualitative fieldwork in 23 New York City centers, we develop hypotheses about this process. We test them on a representative sample of 293 centers. Findings uncover that centers provide important resource-access through their ties and that neighborhood poverty does not undermine this capacity. We suggest that organizational ties may help explain the inconsistent results of the neighborhood effects literature.

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