Social networks as regulating mechanisms in precarious labor markets: Evidence from seasonal workers in agriculture

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  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 25: Returns to Network Position

Abstract

Precarious employment is a defining feature of contemporary labor markets, particularly in sectors reliant on temporary and migrant labor. Seasonal agriculture in Italy exemplifies this condition: short-term contracts, restrictive migration policies, and weak institutional mediation generate persistent uncertainty for both employers and foreign workers. In this context, precariousness is not only contractual but informational. Workers enter employment relationships with limited knowledge of working conditions, future opportunities, or employer reliability.

Drawing on administrative records of 32,622 seasonal contracts involving 16,942 foreign agricultural workers in Northern Italy (2021–2024), this study examines how social networks function as informal stabilizing mechanisms in a precarious labor market. We construct yearly firm–firm networks based on shared workers and worker–worker networks based on workplace overlap. Using mixed-effects models and conditional logit analyses, we investigate two processes: entry into the labor market and re-employment across seasons.

Results show that new entrants disproportionately join firms with high concentrations of compatriots, suggesting that nationality-based networks mitigate uncertainty at entry. Over time, however, re-employment patterns follow the structure of firm–firm networks: workers are significantly more likely to move to firms connected to their previous employer, even after controlling for firm size, sector, and homophily. These findings indicate that information about employers circulates through worker networks, enabling learning and improving match quality across seasons.

We argue that social networks act as regulating mechanisms in precarious labor markets, simultaneously stabilizing employment trajectories and reinforcing segmentation along ethnic lines. By highlighting worker-side learning and networked coordination, this study contributes to sociological debates on precarious work, migration, and inequality, showing how informal relational structures partially compensate for institutional gaps while reproducing new forms of stratification.

Authors

• Maria Laura Frigotto, University of Trento

• Marco Tonellato, University of Trento

• Marco Zamarian, University of Trento

• Enrico Zaninotto, University of Trento