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Friendships and Search Behavior in Labor Markets

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  • Adina D. Sterling

    (Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130)

Abstract

This paper examines how organizations use employee networks to contend with job seekers' search behavior. According to prior research, in markets where job seekers engage in nonsequential job search, organizations respond with tactics such as exploding offers and recruiting candidates earlier. In this paper, I posit that organizations have a social structural response. I argue that in an attempt to avoid problems related to candidates' job search, organizations are more likely to provide job offers to candidates with friends in the hiring organization than to those without friends. I test and find support for this hypothesis in a study of entry-level professionals in business and law. After a period of trial employment, candidates were more likely to receive job offers from organizations if they had a friend employed there than if they did not. The implications of this study for research on labor markets, networks, and inequality are discussed. This paper was accepted by Jesper Sørensen, organizations .

Suggested Citation

  • Adina D. Sterling, 2014. "Friendships and Search Behavior in Labor Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2341-2354, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:60:y:2014:i:9:p:2341-2354
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2013.1857
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Roxana Barbulescu, 2015. "The Strength of Many Kinds of Ties: Unpacking the Role of Social Contacts Across Stages of the Job Search Process," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1040-1058, August.
    2. Leung, Ming D., 2016. "Learning to hire? Hiring as a dynamic experiential process in an online market for contract labor," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt6z86b2vx, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    3. Brian Rubineau & Roberto M. Fernandez, 2015. "Tipping Points: The Gender Segregating and Desegregating Effects of Network Recruitment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 1646-1664, December.
    4. Adina D. Sterling, 2015. "Preentry Contacts and the Generation of Nascent Networks in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 650-667, June.
    5. Ming D. LeungMing D. Leung, 2018. "Learning to Hire? Hiring as a Dynamic Experiential Learning Process in an Online Market for Contract Labor," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(12), pages 5671-5668, December.
    6. Matthieu Manant & Serge Pajak & Nicolas Soulié, 2019. "Can social media lead to labor market discrimination? Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 225-246, April.
    7. Holger Lüdeke & Hanjo Allinger, 2017. "Zeig mir deine Freunde und ich sag dir, wer du bist – Ein empirischer Test zur Berücksichtigung der Akteursheterogenität in der Sozialkapitalforschung [Known by the company you keep – an empirical ," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 1-40, March.
    8. Adina D. Sterling & Roberto M. Fernandez, 2018. "Once in the Door: Gender, Tryouts, and the Initial Salaries of Managers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5444-5460, November.
    9. Daniel W. Elfenbein & Adina D. Sterling, 2018. "(When) Is Hiring Strategic? Human Capital Acquisition in the Age of Algorithms," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 668-682, December.
    10. Leung, Ming D, 2017. "Learning to hire? Hiring as a dynamic experiential learning process in an online market for contract labor," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt5rj3f9xg, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.

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