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The Role of Social Capital in the Labour Market in China

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Author Info
John Knight
Linda Y. Yueh

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Abstract

Social capital is thought to play an economic role in the labour market. It may be particularly pertinent in one that is in transition from an administered to a market-oriented system. One factor that may determine success in the underdeveloped Chinese labour market is thus guanxi, the Chinese variant of social capital. With individual-level measures of social capital, we test for the role of guanxi using a data set designed for this purpose, covering 7,500 urban workers and conducted in early 2000. The basic hypothesis is supported. Both measures of social capital - size of social network and Communist Party membership - have significant and substantial effects in the income functions. Indeed, social capital may be just as important as human capital: remarkably, one additional reported contact contributes more than one additional year of education. Social capital can have influence either in an administered system or in one subject to market forces. We find that it does so in both parts of the labour market, but some of the evidence suggests that it is more important in the latter.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 121.

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Date of creation: 2002
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:121

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Keywords: labour markets wages social capital social networks China

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General

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.:

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  2. Bartlett, Robin L & Miller, Timothy I, 1985. "Executive Compensation: Female Executives and Networking," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 266-70, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Durlauf, Steven N, 1993. "Nonergodic Economic Growth," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 60(2), pages 349-66, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. 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)
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  6. Montgomery, James D, 1991. "Social Networks and Labor-Market Outcomes: Toward an Economic Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1407-18, December.
  7. Greif, Avner, 1993. "Contract Enforceability and Economic Institutions in Early Trade: the Maghribi Traders' Coalition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 525-48, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Rebick, Marcus E, 2000. "The Importance of Networks in the Market for University Graduates in Japan: A Longitudinal Analysis of Hiring Patterns," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 471-96, July.
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  9. Knight, John B & Song, Lina, 1991. "The Determinants of Urban Income Inequality in China," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 53(2), pages 123-54, May.
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  10. Narayan, Deepa & Pritchett, Lant, 1997. "Cents and sociability : household income and social capital in rural Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1796, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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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. Mehmet Karacuka & Martin Leroch, 2006. "Signalling in Social Networks: An Empirical Study of Denominational Fractionalization in the USA," Working Papers 0610, Ege University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jorg Scheibe, 2003. "The Chinese Output Gap During the Reform Period 1978-2002," Economics Series Working Papers 179, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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