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Referral and Job Performance: Evidence from the Ghana Colonial Army

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  • Fafchamps, Marcel
  • Moradi, Alexander

Abstract

As formalized by Montgomery (1991), referral by employees improves efficiency if the unobserved quality of a new worker is higher than that of unrefereed workers. Using data compiled from army archives, we test whether the referral system in use in the British colonial army in Ghana served to improve the unobserved quality of new recruits. We find that it did not: referred recruits were more likely than unreferred recruits to desert or be dismissed as 'inefficient' or 'unfit'. We find instead evidence of referee opportunism. The fact that referred recruits have better observed characteristics at the time of recruitment suggests that army recruiters may have been aware of this problem.

Suggested Citation

  • Fafchamps, Marcel & Moradi, Alexander, 2009. "Referral and Job Performance: Evidence from the Ghana Colonial Army," CEPR Discussion Papers 7408, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7408
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    Cited by:

    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. Afridi, Farzana & Dhillon, Amrita & Sharma, Swati, 2015. "Social Networks and Labour Productivity: A Survey of Recent Theory and Evidence," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 25-42.
    3. Björn Nilsson, 2019. "The School-to-Work Transition in Developing Countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(5), pages 745-764, May.
    4. Dhillon, Amrita & Iversen, Vegard & Torsvik, Gaute, 2012. "Employee referral, social proximity and worker discipline," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 90, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    5. Dhillon, Amrita & Peeters, Ronald & Muge Yukse, Ayse, 2014. "Overcoming Moral Hazard with Social Networks in the Worksplace: An Experimental Approach," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 183, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    6. Andre Hofmeyr, 2010. "Social Networks And Ethnic Niches: An Econometric Analysis Of The Manufacturing Sector In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 78(1), pages 107-130, March.
    7. Caria, Antonia Stefano & Hassen, Ibrahim Worku, 2013. "The formation of job referral networks: Experimental evidence from ubran Ethiopia:," IFPRI discussion papers 1282, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employee referral; Worker productivity; Hidden attributes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • N47 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Africa; Oceania
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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