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Job Search Among Informal Contacts

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  • Linda Loury

Abstract

Understanding the role of informal contacts in job search can be important given that roughly half of workers find employment through such sources. Some previous research finds that informal contacts improve labor market outcomes. Other work shows that individuals who found their jobs through friends and relatives had lower wages and less job satisfaction than those who used other methods. In light of the varying effects, the purpose of this paper is to uncover why individuals differ in the types of contacts used to find the jobs that they hold.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Loury, 2006. "Job Search Among Informal Contacts," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0604, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    • Handle: RePEc:tuf:tuftec:0604
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    File URL: http://ase.tufts.edu/econ/papers/200604.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Galeotti & Luca Paolo Merlino, 2014. "Endogenous Job Contact Networks," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1201-1226, November.
    2. Pierre Cahuc & François Fontaine, 2009. "On the Efficiency of Job Search with Social Networks," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 11(3), pages 411-439, June.
    3. Kondo, Ayako & Shoji, Masahiro, 2019. "Peer effects in employment status: Evidence from housing lotteries," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Fabio Ferlazzo & Stefano Sdoia, 2012. "Measuring Nepotism through Shared Last Names: Are We Really Moving from Opinions to Facts?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(8), pages 1-6, August.
    5. 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, chapter 0, pages 115-141, Springer.
    6. Zwysen, Wouter, 2013. "Where you go depends on where you come from: the influence of father’s employment status on young adult’s labour market experiences," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    7. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2006. "Value-Added Tax," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0608, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    8. Zwysen, Wouter & Longhi, Simonetta, 2016. "Labour market disadvantage of ethnic minority British graduates: university choice, parental background or neighbourhood?," ISER Working Paper Series 2016-02, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Zwysen, Wouter, 2014. "A disadvantaged childhood matters more if local unemployment is high," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-43, Institute for Social and Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Job search; Informal contacts;

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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