Sándor Juhász

selected publications

1. EPB

   Income-related spatial concentration of individual social capital in cities

   Kovács, Á., Juhász, S., Bokányi, E., and Lengyel, B.

   Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 2022

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   Social connections that span across diverse urban neighborhoods can support prosperity by mobilizing social capital. However, there is limited evidence on the spatial structure of individual social capital inside cities. This paper demonstrates that social capital measured by online social connections is spatially more concentrated for residents of lower-income neighborhoods than for residents of higher-income neighborhoods. We map the micro-geography of individual online social networks in the 50 largest metropolitan areas of the United States using a large-scale geolocalized Twitter dataset. We analyze the spatial dimension of individual social capital by the share of friends, closed triangles, and share of supported ties within circles of short distance radii (1, 3, 5, and 10 km) around users’ home location. We compare residents from below-median income neighborhoods with above-median income neighborhoods, and find that users living in relatively poorer neighborhoods have a significantly higher share of connections in close proximity. Moreover, their network is more cohesive and supported within a short distance from their home. These patterns prevail across the 50 largest US metropolitan areas with only a few exceptions. The found disparities in the micro-geographic concentration of social capital can feed segregation and income inequality within cities constraining social circles of low-income residents.

2. SR

   Universal patterns of long‐distance commuting and social assortativity in cities

   Bokányi, E., Juhász, S., Karsai, M., and Lengyel, B.

   Scientific Reports, 2021

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   Millions commute to work every day in cities and interact with colleagues, partners, friends, and strangers. Commuting facilitates the mixing of people from distant and diverse neighborhoods, but whether this has an imprint on social inclusion or instead, connections remain assortative is less explored. In this paper, we aim to better understand income sorting in social networks inside cities and investigate how commuting distance conditions the online social ties of Twitter users in the 50 largest metropolitan areas of the United States. An above‐median commuting distance in cities is linked to more diverse individual networks, moreover, we find that longer commutes are associated with a nearly uniform, moderate reduction of overall social tie assortativity across all cities. This suggests a universal relation between long‐distance commutes and the integration of social networks. Our results inform policy that facilitating access across distant neighborhoods can advance the social inclusion of low‐income groups.

3. SBE

   Spinoffs and tie formation in cluster knowledge networks

   Juhász, S.

   Small Business Economics, 2021

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   It is generally acknowledged that in order to have access to locally accumulated industrial knowledge, firms have to collaborate and take part in cluster knowledge networks. This study argues that the inherited capabilities of spinoff enable them to cooperate and exchange knowledge more easily and to gain more from positive knowledge externalities in clusters. The basis of the analysis is a relational dataset on a printing and paper product cluster in Hungary, and I use exponential random graph models to explain the formation of knowledge ties. I demonstrate that besides geographical proximity, ownership similarity and network structural effects, being a spinoff company enhances tie formation in the local network. Results suggest that spinoffs are indeed more likely to collaborate and take advantage of knowledge concentration.