Getting a Longer Job: Roles of Human and Social Capital

• In Event: 127 - Section on Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Paper Session: Table 12. Occupations and Inequality

Abstract

This article investigates roles of human and social capital in the Japanese labor market. Our research question is whether they reinforce or complement each other to provide longer first jobs. Using the 2005 Social Stratification and Social Mobility Survey Data, we measure human capital by educational attainment (college education) and social capital by job search methods (using friends or relatives). We observe that social capital benefits especially those with low human capital. When friends or relatives introduce workers to jobs, high school graduates tended to stay longer in their first jobs than college graduates did. Therefore, social capital has a complementing role to mitigate educational disadvantages.

Authors

• Jun Kobayashi, Seikei University

• Mei Kagawa, Seikei University