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The Role of Social Ties in the Job Search of Recent Immigrants

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  • Goel, Deepti
  • Lang, Kevin

Abstract

We show that among workers whose network is weaker than formal (nonnetwork) channels, those finding a job through the network should have higher wages than those finding a job through formal channels. Moreover, this wage differential is decreasing in network strength. We test these implications using a survey of recent immigrants into Canada. At least at the lower end of an individual’s wage distribution above his reservation wage, finding a network job is associated with higher wages for those with weak networks, and the interaction between network strength and finding a job through the network is negative as predicted.

Suggested Citation

  • Goel, Deepti & Lang, Kevin, 2009. "The Role of Social Ties in the Job Search of Recent Immigrants," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-12, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Feb 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2009-12
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigrants; Job Search; Social Networks; Strong Ties;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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