IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/109688.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

“Whom you know” and labour market outcomes: An empirical investigation in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Baah-Boateng, William
  • Twum, Eric
  • Twumasi Baffour, Priscilla

Abstract

The relevance of social networks sometimes referred to in Ghana as “whom you know” in the job acquisition process and its effect on labour market outcomes (wages, job satisfaction and job tenure) have been highlighted by a number of studies. Most of these studies have concentrated largely on monetary post-hire outcomes with limited research on non-pecuniary aspects. Using a cox proportional hazard model to analyse a survey of 150 formal sector workers in the services sector in Accra, the study observes that first, jobs acquired through the help of workers’ friends and relatives did not last long. The first jobs could be a stepping-stone for better jobs. This effect is however not statistically significant after controlling for individual and firm-level covariates. Conclusions are however made with caution due to the small sample size and the nature of respondents’ majority of whom are highly educated and relatively younger. Future research can explore further social networks and labour markets particularly in Africa where familiarity and identical ethnic bonds are visible and stronger.

Suggested Citation

  • Baah-Boateng, William & Twum, Eric & Twumasi Baffour, Priscilla, 2019. "“Whom you know” and labour market outcomes: An empirical investigation in Ghana," MPRA Paper 109688, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:109688
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/109688/1/MPRA_paper_109688.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Baah-Boateng, 2016. "The youth unemployment challenge in Africa: What are the drivers?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 27(4), pages 413-431, December.
    2. Datcher, Linda, 1983. "The Impact of Informal Networks of Quit Behavior," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(3), pages 491-495, August.
    3. Marcel Fafchamps & Alexander Moradi, 2015. "Referral and Job Performance: Evidence from the Ghana Colonial Army," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 715-751.
    4. Mortensen, D. T. & Vishwanath, T., 1995. "Personal contacts and earnings: It is who you know!," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 103-104, March.
    5. Blau, David M & Robins, Philip K, 1990. "Job Search Outcomes for the Employed and Unemployed," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(3), pages 637-655, June.
    6. William Baah-Boateng, 2013. "Determinants of Unemployment in Ghana," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(4), pages 385-399.
    7. Mark Granovetter, 2005. "The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 33-50, Winter.
    8. Urbain Thierry Yogo, 2011. "Social Network and Wage: Evidence from Cameroon," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 25(4), pages 528-543, December.
    9. Nakajima, Ryo & Tamura, Ryuichi & Hanaki, Nobuyuki, 2010. "The effect of collaboration network on inventors' job match, productivity and tenure," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 723-734, August.
    10. Michele Pellizzari, 2010. "Do Friends and Relatives Really Help in Getting a Good Job?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(3), pages 494-510, April.
    11. Saloner, Garth, 1985. "Old Boy Networks as Screening Mechanisms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 255-267, July.
    12. Mano, Yukichi & Yamano, Takashi & Suzuki, Aya & Matsumoto, Tomoya, 2011. "Local and Personal Networks in Employment and the Development of Labor Markets: Evidence from the Cut Flower Industry in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1760-1770.
    13. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1984. "Matching, Turnover, and Unemployment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(1), pages 108-122, February.
    14. Meyer, Bruce D, 1990. "Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Spells," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(4), pages 757-782, July.
    15. Barr, Abigail & Oduro, Abena, 2002. "Ethnic fractionalization in an African labour market," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 355-379, August.
    16. 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.
    17. Linda Datcher Loury, 2006. "Some Contacts Are More Equal than Others: Informal Networks, Job Tenure, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 299-318, April.
    18. Aryeetey, Ernest & Kanbur, Ravi (ed.), 2017. "The Economy of Ghana Sixty Years after Independence," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198753438.
    19. Mario Cleves & William W. Gould & Roberto G. Gutierrez & Yulia Marchenko, 2010. "An Introduction to Survival Analysis Using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 3, number saus3, March.
    20. Colin Green, 2012. "Employed and unemployed job search methods: Australian evidence on search duration, wages and job stability," Working Papers 50029416, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    21. 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 306-330, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicoletta Berardi, 2013. "Social networks and wages in Senegal’s labor market," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Semih Tumen, 2016. "Informal versus formal search: Which yields better pay?," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 12(3), pages 257-277, September.
    3. Michele Mosca & Francesco Pastore, 2009. "Wage Effects of Recruitment Methods: The Case of the Italian Social Service Sector," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, in: Marco Musella & Sergio Destefanis (ed.), Paid and Unpaid Labour in the Social Economy. An International Perspective, edition 1, chapter 8, pages 115-141, AIEL - Associazione Italiana Economisti del Lavoro.
    4. Nakajima, Ryo & Tamura, Ryuichi & Hanaki, Nobuyuki, 2010. "The effect of collaboration network on inventors' job match, productivity and tenure," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 723-734, August.
    5. Yuanyuan Chen & Le Wang & Min Zhang, 2018. "Informal search, bad search?: the effects of job search method on wages among rural migrants in urban China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 837-876, July.
    6. Benjamin Lester & David A. Rivers & Giorgio Topa, 2021. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Referrals on Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 21-34, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    7. Meta Brown & Elizabeth Setren & Giorgio Topa, 2016. "Do Informal Referrals Lead to Better Matches? Evidence from a Firm's Employee Referral System," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 161-209.
    8. 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.
    9. Samuel Bentolila & Claudio Michelacci & Javier Suarez, 2010. "Social Contacts and Occupational Choice," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(305), pages 20-45, January.
    10. Samuel Bentolila & Claudio Michelacci & Javier Suarez, 2010. "Social Contacts and Occupational Choice," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(305), pages 20-45, 01.
    11. Cappellari, Lorenzo & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2015. "With a little help from my friends? Quality of social networks, job finding and job match quality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 55-75.
    12. Valentina Meliciani & Debora Radicchia, 2014. "Informal Network, Spatial Mobility and Overeducation in the Italian Labour Market," Working Papers 19, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Nov 2014.
    13. Stupnytska, Yuliia & Zaharieva, Anna, 2015. "Explaining U-shape of the referral hiring pattern in a search model with heterogeneous workers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 211-233.
    14. Emanuela Ghignoni, 2016. "The ?great escape? from Italian Universities: Do labour market recruitment channels matter?," QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(106), pages 49-75.
    15. Ponzo, Michela & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2010. "The use of informal networks in Italy: Efficiency or favoritism?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 89-99, January.
    16. Afridi, Farzana & Dhillon, Amrita, 2022. "Social Networks and the Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 15774, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Marcel Fafchamps & Alexander Moradi, 2015. "Referral and Job Performance: Evidence from the Ghana Colonial Army," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 715-751.
    18. Emanuela Ghignoni, 2017. "Who do you know or what do you know? Informal recruitment channels, family background and university enrolments," Working Papers in Public Economics 179, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    19. Miguel A. Duran & Antonio J. Morales, 2014. "A Moral Hazard Approach to Wage Discounts under Informal Hiring," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 61(2), pages 119-128, May.
    20. Martina Rebien & Michael Stops & Anna Zaharieva, 2020. "Formal Search And Referrals From A Firm'S Perspective," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1679-1748, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social networks; Job tenure; Cox proportional hazard model.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:109688. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.