Social Network, Wage, and Job Tenure of Migrant Workers in China

• In Event: 247 - Regular Session. Social Capital and Social Outcomes

Abstract

Network theories suggested that using social contacts is an important means of getting a good job. Job seekers benefit from their social capital because they can obtain useful information and exert influence through their social ties. Although many studies found positive effects of social capital on job outcomes, little is known about whether the use of social ties in job search improves the labor market outcomes of migrant workers in urban China. Analyzing data from a survey of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta in 2010, we found that informal job search through friends and kin brought higher wages and longer lasting jobs than some, but not all, other formal job search methods. Migrant workers with lower levels of education benefited more than those with a high school degree from the use of social networks.

Authors

• Lei Lei, State University of New York-Albany

• Zai Liang, State University of New York-Albany