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Social capital in the workplace: Evidence on its formation and consequences

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  • Bandiera, Oriana
  • Barankay, Iwan
  • Rasul, Imran

Abstract

The existence of social ties between co-workers affect many aspects of firm and worker behavior, such as how workers respond to a given set of incentives, the optimal compensation structures for workers at different tiers of the firm hierarchy, and the optimal organizational design for the firm. This paper presents evidence on the social capital in one particular firm, as embodied in the friendship ties among its workers. We describe the structure of the friendship network as a whole and present evidence on the determinants of social ties. Finally, we review evidence from a field experiment we conducted in the firm to highlight one particular mechanism through which social capital significantly affects worker performance.

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  • Bandiera, Oriana & Barankay, Iwan & Rasul, Imran, 2008. "Social capital in the workplace: Evidence on its formation and consequences," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 724-748, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:15:y:2008:i:4:p:724-748
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    2. Bassanini, Andrea & Caroli, Eve & Fontaine, François & Rebérioux, Antoine, 2021. "Escaping social pressure: Fixed-term contracts in multi-establishment firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 697-715.
    3. Guido Friebel & Matthias Heinz & Mitchell Hoffman & Nick Zubanov, 2023. "What Do Employee Referral Programs Do? Measuring the Direct and Overall Effects of a Management Practice," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(3), pages 633-686.
    4. Tommaso Colussi, 2013. "Migrant Networks and Job Search Outcomes: Evidence from Displaced Workers," Working Papers 706, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    5. A. Ricci & S. Scicchitano & M. Conti & G. Cardullo & G. Sulis, 2022. "On the Emergence of Cooperative Industrial and Labor Relations," Working Paper CRENoS 202201, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    6. Colussi, Tommaso, 2015. "Migrant Networks and Job Search Outcomes: Evidence from Displaced Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 9339, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Maurice Kügler & Sven Dittes & Stefan Smolnik & Alexander Richter, 2015. "Connect Me! Antecedents and Impact of Social Connectedness in Enterprise Social Software," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 57(3), pages 181-196, June.
    8. Donze, Jocelyn & Gunnes, Trude, 2018. "Becoming “We” instead of “I”, identity management and incentives in the workplace," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 105-120.
    9. Leif Brandes & Marc Brechot & Egon Franck, 2011. "The Temptation of Social Ties: When Interpersonal Network Transactions Hurt Firm Performance," Working Papers 00159, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU), revised 2012.
    10. Louise Nash, 2024. "There and Back Again: Neuro-Diverse Employees, Liminality and Negative Capability," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 262-278, February.
    11. Tucker, Basil, 2013. "Environmental disturbances, organizational transitions and transformations: A view from the dark side," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 242-259.
    12. Tommaso Colussi, 2013. "Migrant Networks and Job Search Outcomes: Evidence from Displaced Workers," Working Papers 706, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    13. Suresh Naidu, 2022. "Is There Any Future for a US Labor Movement?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 3-28, Fall.
    14. Brandes, Leif & Brechot, Marc & Franck, Egon, 2015. "Managers’ external social ties at work: Blessing or curse for the firm?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 203-216.
    15. Colussi, Tommaso & Romano, Livio, 2016. "Is There a Preferential Treatment for Locals in the Labor Market? Evidence from Takeovers," IZA Discussion Papers 10418, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    17. Marc-Andreas Muendler & James E. Rauch, 2012. "Mobilizing Social Capital Through Employee Spinoffs," NBER Working Papers 18459, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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