College Graduates, Local Retailers, and Community Belonging in the United States

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Publication Source

Sociological Spectrum

Volume Number

34

Issue Number

2

First Page

143

Last Page

162

Publisher

Taylor & Francis, Inc.

ISSN

0273-2173

Abstract

How do communities retain their highly educated residents? Do local retailers play a role? This study addresses these questions using confidential U.S. census data on locally-oriented retail employment and county-level public-use files. Hierarchical linear modeling is employed to test hypotheses derived from prior research on civic community and migration. The results confirm that state-level local retail employment buffers the extent to which county-level college graduation is associated with county nonmigration. This finding is consistent with civic community theory, suggesting that locally-oriented retailers are a valuable resource for promoting residential stability.

Keywords

Wal-mart, Civic Engagement, Interstate Migration, Spatial Association, Economic-growth, Business, Religion, Congregations, Consequences, Determinants

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