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Do Friends and Relatives Really Help in Getting a Good Job?

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Author Info
Michele Pellizzari

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Abstract

Informal contacts are extensively used by both firms and workers to find jobs and fill vacancies. Thecommon wisdom in the economic literature is that jobs created through this channel are of better qualityand pay higher wages than jobs created through formal methods. This paper explores the empiricalevidence for European countries using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) and discovers alarge cross-country as well as cross-industry variation in the wage differentials between jobs found throughinformal and formal methods. Across countries and industries wage premiums and wage penalties tofinding jobs through personal contacts are equally frequent. This paper argues that such variation can beexplained by looking at firms' recruitment strategies. In labour markets where employers invest largely informal recruitment activities, matches created through this channel are likely to be of average better qualitythan those created through informal networks. A simple theoretical model is used to show that employersinvest more in recruitment for high productivity jobs and for positions that require considerable training.The empirical predictions of the theory are successfully tested using industry-level data on recruitmentcosts.

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Paper provided by Centre for Economic Performance, LSE in its series CEP Discussion Papers with number dp0623.

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Date of creation: Mar 2004
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Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0623

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Related research
Keywords: Social Networks; Wage Differentials; Recruitment; Hiring;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Adriana D. Kugler, 1997. "Employee Referrals and the Inter-industry Wage Structure," Economics Working Papers 252, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
  2. Lindeboom, Maarten & van Ours, Jan C & Renes, Gusta, 1994. "Matching Employers and Workers: An Empirical Analysis on the Effectiveness of Search," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 45-67, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Calvó-Armengol, Antoni & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Job Matching, Social Network and Word-of-Mouth Communication," IZA Discussion Papers 771, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Franco Peracchi, 2002. "The European Community Household Panel: A review," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 63-90. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Samuel Bentolila & Claudio Michelacci & Javier Suarez, 2004. "Social Contacts And Occupational Choice," Working Papers wp2004_06, CEMFI. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Luigi Pistaferri, 1999. "Informal Networks in the Italian Labor Market," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 58(3-4), pages 355-375, December.
  7. Holzer, Harry J, 1988. "Search Method Use by Unemployed Youth," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Barron, John M & Berger, Mark C & Black, Dan A, 1997. "Employer Search, Training, and Vacancy Duration," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 167-92, January.
  9. Alan Manning, 1999. "Pretty Vacant: Recruitment in Low Wage Labour Markets," CEP Discussion Papers dp0418, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Simon, Curtis J & Warner, John T, 1992. "Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Effect of Old Boy Networks on Job Match Quality, Earnings, and Tenure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(3), pages 306-30, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Gautier, Pieter A., 2002. "Non-sequential search, screening externalities and the public good role of recruitment offices," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 179-196, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Bull, Clive & Ornati, Oscar & Tedeschi, Piero, 1987. "Search, Hiring Strategies, and Labor Market Intermediaries," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(4), pages S1-17, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Mortensen, Dale T. & Vishwanath, Tara, 1994. "Personal contacts and earnings : It is who you know!," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 187-201, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Harry J. Holzer, 1987. "Hiring Procedures in the Firm: Their Economic Determinants and Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 2185, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Cahuc, Pierre & Fontaine, François, 2002. "On the Efficiency of Job Search with Social Networks," IZA Discussion Papers 583, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Antoni Calvó-Armengol & Matthew O. Jackson, 2004. "The Effects of Social Networks on Employment and Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 426-454, June. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Marmaros, David & Sacerdote, Bruce, 2002. "Peer and social networks in job search," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(4-5), pages 870-879, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Russo, Giovanni & Gorter, Cees & Schettkat, Ronald, 2001. "Searching, hiring and labour market conditions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(5), pages 553-571, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Barron, John M & Bishop, John & Dunkelberg, William C, 1985. "Employer Search: The Interviewing and Hiring of New Employees," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 43-52, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Margolis, David N. & Simonnet, Véronique, 2003. "Educational Track, Networks and Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 699, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  21. Gorter, Cees & Nijkamp, Peter & Rietveld, Piet, 1996. "Employers' Recruitment Behaviour and Vacancy Duration: An Empirical Analysis for the Dutch Labour Market," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 28(11), pages 1463-74, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Roper, Stephen, 1988. "Recruitment Methods and Vacancy Duration," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 35(1), pages 51-64, February.
  23. Saloner, Garth, 1985. "Old Boy Networks as Screening Mechanisms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 255-67, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Holzer, Harry J, 1987. "Informal Job Search and Black Youth Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 446-52, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  25. Kugler, Adriana D., 2003. "Employee referrals and efficiency wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 531-556, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. Gorter, Cees & van Ommeren, Jos, 1999. "Sequencing, Timing and Filling Rates of Recruitment Channels," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 31(10), pages 1149-60, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Linda Loury, 2006. "Job Search Among Informal Contacts," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0604, Department of Economics, Tufts University. [Downloadable!]
  2. Alessandra Casella & Nobuyuki Hanaki, 2005. "Information channels in labor markets: On the resilience of referral hiring," Discussion Papers 0506-05, Columbia University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Aslund, Olof & Böhlmark, Anders & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2009. "Age at Migration and Social Integration," IZA Discussion Papers 4263, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Yannis M. Ioannides & Linda Datcher Loury, 2002. "Job Information Networks, Neighborhood Effects and Inequality," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0217, Department of Economics, Tufts University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  6. Samuel Bentolila & Claudio Michelacci & Javier Suarez, 2004. "Social Contacts And Occupational Choice," Working Papers wp2004_06, CEMFI. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Mauro Sylos Labini, 2004. "Social Networks and Wages: It's All About Connections!," LEM Papers Series 2004/10, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  8. Mosca, Michele & Pastore, Francesco, 2008. "Wage Effects of Recruitment Methods: The Case of the Italian Social Service Sector," IZA Discussion Papers 3422, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  9. Pozzoli, Dario, 2008. "The Transition to Work for Italian University Graduates," Working Papers 08-8, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Michele Pellizzari, 2005. "Employers' Search and the Efficiency of Matching," IZA Discussion Papers 1862, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Michèle Belot & John Ermisch, 2006. "Friendship Ties and Geographical Mobility: Evidence from the BHPS," IZA Discussion Papers 2209, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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