Social Ties and the Job Search of Recent Immigrants

2017/08/31 by Deepti Goel, Kevin Lang · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality #Social Capital and Networks #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

paper · doi:10.1177/0019793917729350

openalex publication_date 2017/08/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16

Abstract

This article highlights a specific mechanism through which social networks help in job search. The authors characterize the strength of a network by its likelihood of providing a job offer. Using a theoretical model, they show that the difference between wages in jobs found using networks versus those found using formal channels decreases as the network becomes stronger. The authors verify this result for recent immigrants to Canada for whom a strong network is captured by the presence of a “close tie.” Furthermore, structural estimates confirm that the presence of a close tie operates by increasing the likelihood of generating a job offer from the network rather than by altering the network wage distribution.

Citations

• The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited
• Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment
• Networks in the Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants in the U. S. Labor Market
• The Strength of Weak Ties
• Who Gets the Job Referral? Evidence from a Social Networks Experiment

Discussions

• Do our #socialnetworks help us get a job? Deepti Goel @pitzercollege.bsky.social and Kevin Lang #bueconomics show that the presence of a close tie increases the likelihood of generating a job offer f [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]