Few attempts have been made to study entrepreneurs' social networks in local communities. This study empirically explores the relationships between self-employed workers' involvement in local communities and their earnings. Examining whether their weak ties with community members and strong ties with their neighbors work differently, we hypothesize that while the former yields positive returns, a high involvement in their neighborhoods limits self-employed workers' access to extra-community contacts, causes free-rider problems, and produces leveling pressures. Our findings suggest that participating in local community organizations significantly raises self-employment earnings. Alternatively, self-employed workers strongly connected with their neighbors receive significantly lower earnings.
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Paper provided by Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University in its series Discussion Papers with number
2007-04.