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People I Know: Job Search and Social Networks

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  • Federico Cingano
  • Alfonso Rosolia

Abstract

We assess the strength of information spillovers relating unemployment duration of workers displaced by firm closures to their former colleagues' current employment status. Displaced-specific networks are recovered from a 20-year panel of matched employer-employee data. Spillovers are identified by comparing performances of codisplaced workers. A one-standard-deviation increase in the network employment rate reduces unemployment duration by about 8%; the effect is magnified if contacts recently searched for a job and if their current employer is spatially and technologically closer to the displaced worker; stronger ties and lower competition for information favor reemployment. Several indirect tests exclude other interaction mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Cingano & Alfonso Rosolia, 2012. "People I Know: Job Search and Social Networks," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(2), pages 291-332.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/663357
    DOI: 10.1086/663357
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    JEL classification:

    • D0 - Microeconomics - - General
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General

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