Democratizing Referrals: Market Transition and Labor Market Networks in China

• In Event: 214 - Regular Session. Economic Sociology 1

Abstract

We examine the association between marketization and the use of labor market networks in China. Prior scholarship indicates two mechanisms for marketization to affect labor market network usage: (1) changes in firm practices, and (2) changes in social expectations. This study departs from previous related scholarship by examining this phenomenon from the perspective of the referrer – that is, the person providing job opportunity information to potential candidates – rather than that of the job seeker or the currently employed. Using a large-scale nationally representative survey of Chinese urban residents, we find job-referring is responsive to the introduction of firm practices encouraging network-based recruitment. Nevertheless, the likelihood of referring declines with marketization. We show that this decline is due to the association between marketization and the decrease in the likelihood that those in positions of discretionary authority refer, a change that is consistent with the decline in the expectations that one uses her job position to benefit members of her network. Thus, with marketization, referrals become democratized, that is although fewer people refer, referring is no longer concentrated among those with high levels of discretionary authority. Our results have implications for our understanding of a) the effects of marketization on labor market networks and b) conflicting roles of labor market intermediaries.

Authors

• Elena Obukhova, McGill University

• Brian Rubineau, Cornell University