The Joint Use of Formal and Informal Channels and Job Search Success

• In Event: 117 - Regular Session. Economic Sociology: Embeddedness, Hybridity and Economic Performance in Asian Capitalisms

Abstract

Are effects of contact use causal? By innovatively distinguishing individuals who use contacts jointly with formal job search methods from those who rely on contact use alone, I addressed this question by putting forth three propositions: the positive proposition supporting causal effects of social capital, the negative proposition supporting the “homophily” argument, and the conditional proposition supporting the causal effect argument under the condition of “homophily”. Using the 2003 China General Social Survey data, I tested the three propositions by focusing on both the job search process and outcome. Findings show that the answer to the question centered on the “causality vs. homophily” debate depends on measures of job search outcomes. Causal effects of contact use indeed exist on the amount of accessed job information. As for job search duration, while contact use in general leads to a shorter search period than the formal channel does, individuals with hirable formal qualifications access higher quality social contacts. Their use of social contacts makes their average search period the shortest. When recent income is used to measure career success, findings from the Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) models confirm the conditional proposition. The use of the joint channel leads to significantly higher income than the use of either the formal or informal channel alone, after significant self-selection effects are controlled. Thus, for career success as indicated by recent income, the causal effect of contact use is contingent on the homophily principle.

Author

• Jing Shen, University of Lethbridge