IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/vfsc14/100533.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Coworkers, Networks, and Job Search Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Weber, Andrea
  • Saygin, Peri
  • Weynandt, Michele

Abstract

Social networks are an important channel of information transmission in the labor market. In this paper investigate how displaced workers searching for new jobs benefit from information provided by their former coworkers. In line with the theoretical and empirical literature we find that the employment status networks members matters for the job finding rate. We further analyze the mechanisms through which employed contacts affect job search outcomes and find that (i) the types of firms at which the contacts work are important and (ii) contacts with similar characteristics as the displaced worker lead to better outcomes. Our findings strongly indicate that job referrals from network members are the main mechanism by which social contacts influence job search outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Weber, Andrea & Saygin, Peri & Weynandt, Michele, 2014. "Coworkers, Networks, and Job Search Outcomes," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100533, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100533
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/100533/1/VfS_2014_pid_986.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laura Giuliano & David I. Levine & Jonathan Leonard, 2009. "Manager Race and the Race of New Hires," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(4), pages 589-631, October.
    2. Harry J. Holzer, 1987. "Hiring Procedures in the Firm: Their Economic Determinants and Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 2185, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    4. Patrick Bayer & Stephen L. Ross & Giorgio Topa, 2008. "Place of Work and Place of Residence: Informal Hiring Networks and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1150-1196, December.
    5. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    6. Francis Kramarz & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2014. "When Strong Ties are Strong: Networks and Youth Labour Market Entry," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(3), pages 1164-1200.
    7. Yannis M. Ioannides & Linda Datcher Loury, 2004. "Job Information Networks, Neighborhood Effects, and Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1056-1093, December.
    8. Oriana Bandiera & Iwan Barankay & Imran Rasul, 2010. "Social Incentives in the Workplace," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(2), pages 417-458.
    9. Francis Kramarz & David Thesmar, 2013. "Social Networks In The Boardroom," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 780-807, August.
    10. Alexandre Mas & Enrico Moretti, 2009. "Peers at Work," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 112-145, March.
    11. Oriana Bandiera & Iwan Barankay & Imran Rasul, 2009. "Social Connections and Incentives in the Workplace: Evidence From Personnel Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(4), pages 1047-1094, July.
    12. Montgomery, James D, 1991. "Social Networks and Labor-Market Outcomes: Toward an Economic Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1407-1418, December.
    13. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1979. "Job Matching and the Theory of Turnover," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 972-990, October.
    14. Glitz, Albrecht, 2017. "Coworker networks in the labour market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 218-230.
    15. Olof Åslund & Lena Hensvik & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2014. "Seeking Similarity: How Immigrants and Natives Manage in the Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(3), pages 405-441.
    16. Lena Hensvik & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2016. "Social Networks, Employee Selection, and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 825-867.
    17. Franziska Hawranek & Norbert Schanne, 2014. "Your very private job agency: Job referrals based on residential location networks," ERSA conference papers ersa14p49, European Regional Science Association.
    18. Michele Pellizzari, 2010. "Do Friends and Relatives Really Help in Getting a Good Job?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(3), pages 494-510, April.
    19. Judith K. Hellerstein & Melissa McInerney & David Neumark, 2011. "Neighbors and Coworkers: The Importance of Residential Labor Market Networks," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(4), pages 659-695.
    20. Antoni Calvó-Armengol & Matthew O. Jackson, 2004. "The Effects of Social Networks on Employment and Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 426-454, June.
    21. Marmaros, David & Sacerdote, Bruce, 2002. "Peer and social networks in job search," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(4-5), pages 870-879, May.
    22. Meta Brown & Elizabeth Setren & Giorgio Topa, 2016. "Do Informal Referrals Lead to Better Matches? Evidence from a Firm's Employee Referral System," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 161-209.
    23. Francis Kramarz & David Thesmar, 2013. "Social Networks In The Boardroom," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 780-807, August.
    24. Josef Zweim�ller & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Rafael Lalive & Andreas Kuhn & Jean-Philippe Wuellrich & Oliver Ruf & Simon B�chi, 2009. "Austrian social security database," IEW - Working Papers 410, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
      • Josef Zweimüller & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Rafael Lalive & Andreas Kuhn & Jean-Philippe Wuellrich & Oliver Ruf & Simon Büchi, 2009. "Austrian Social Security Database," NRN working papers 2009-03, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    25. Martina Fink & Esther Segalla & Andrea Weber & Christine Zulehner, 2010. "Extracting Firm Information from Administrative Records: The ASSD Firm Panel," NRN working papers 2010-04, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    26. Steven J. Davis & Till Von Wachter, 2011. "Recessions and the Costs of Job Loss," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 1-72.
    27. Simon, Curtis J & Warner, John T, 1992. "Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Effect of Old Boy Networks on Job Match Quality, Earnings, and Tenure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(3), pages 306-330, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen-Zion, Ayal & Rauch, James E., 2020. "History dependence, cohort attachment, and job referrals in networks of close relationships," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 75-95.
    2. Deepti Goel & Kevin Lang, 2019. "Social Ties and the Job Search of Recent Immigrants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(2), pages 355-381, March.
    3. Albrecht Glitz & Rune Vejlin, 2021. "Learning through Coworker Referrals," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 42, pages 37-71, October.
    4. Allouch, Nizar, 2017. "The cost of segregation in (social) networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 329-342.
    5. Schank, Thorsten & Bossler, Mario & Mosthaf, Alexander, 2016. "More female manager hires through more female managers? Evidence from Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145733, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Balázs Lengyel & Rikard H. Eriksson, 2017. "Co-worker networks, labour mobility and productivity growth in regions," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 635-660.
    7. Hawranek, Franziska & Schanne, Norbert, 2014. "Your very private job agency : job referrals based on residential location networks," IAB-Discussion Paper 201401, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    8. Bryan S. Graham, 2019. "Network Data," Papers 1912.06346, arXiv.org.
    9. Eliason, Marcus & Hensvik, Lena & Kramarz, Francis & Skans, Oskar Nordström, 2023. "Social connections and the sorting of workers to firms," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 468-506.
    10. Ilyés, Virág & Sebők, Anna, 2020. "Egyetemről a munkaerőpiacra. Felsőoktatási ismeretségek hatása a munkaerőpiaci kilátásokra [From university to working life - the effect peers in higher education have on labour-market outcomes]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 993-1028.
    11. Müller, Dagmar, 2021. "Lost Opportunities: Work during High School, Establishment Closures and the Impact on Career Prospects," Working Paper Series 1381, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    12. Clara Welteke, 2015. "Peers at Work - a Brief Overview of the Literature on Peer Effects at the Workplace and the Policy Implications," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 68, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Glitz, Albrecht, 2017. "Coworker networks in the labour market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 218-230.
    14. Focacci, Chiara Natalie & Santarelli, Enrico, 2021. "Job Training, Remote Working, and Self-Employment: Displaced Workers Beyond Employment Hysteresis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 780, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Bryan S. Graham, 2019. "Network Data," CeMMAP working papers CWP71/19, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    16. Panle Jia Barwick & Yanyan Liu & Eleonora Patacchini & Qi Wu, 2019. "Information, Mobile Communication, and Referral Effects," NBER Working Papers 25873, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Balázs Lengyel & Rikard H. Eriksson, 2015. "Co-worker networks and productivity growth in regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1513, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2015.
    18. Müller, Dagmar, 2020. "Lost opportunities: Market work during high school, establishment closures and the impact on career prospects," Working Paper Series 2020:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    19. Levati, Lorenzo Maria & Lalanne, Marie, 2020. "The impact of job referrals on employment outcomes in top corporate positions," SAFE Working Paper Series 268, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    20. Boza, István & Ilyés, Virág, 2018. "A korábbi munkatársak bérekre gyakorolt hatása [The influence of previous employment on wages]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 726-767.
    21. Marcelo Arbex & Ricardo Freguglia & Rafael Siano, 2016. "Network Centrality in Labor Markets and Wage Dynamics," Working Papers 1609, University of Windsor, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Perihan Ozge Saygin & Andrea Weber & Michèle A. Weynandt, 2021. "Coworkers, Networks, and Job-Search Outcomes among Displaced Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 95-130, January.
    2. Glitz, Albrecht, 2017. "Coworker networks in the labour market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 218-230.
    3. Eliason, Marcus & Hensvik, Lena & Kramarz, Francis & Skans, Oskar Nordström, 2023. "Social connections and the sorting of workers to firms," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 468-506.
    4. Lena Hensvik & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2016. "Social Networks, Employee Selection, and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 825-867.
    5. Christian Dustmann & Albrecht Glitz & Uta Schönberg & Herbert Brücker, 2016. "Referral-based Job Search Networks," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(2), pages 514-546.
    6. Benjamin Lester & David A. Rivers & Giorgio Topa, 2021. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Referrals on Labor Market Outcomes," Staff Reports 987, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    7. Nicoletta Berardi & Marie Lalanne & Paul Seabright, 2019. "Professional Networks and their Coevolution with Executive Careers," Working papers 723, Banque de France.
    8. Hellerstein, Judith K. & Kutzbach, Mark J. & Neumark, David, 2019. "Labor market networks and recovery from mass layoffs: Evidence from the Great Recession period," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Jose Garcia‐Louzao & Marta Silva, 2024. "Coworker networks and the labor market outcomes of displaced workers: Evidence from Portugal," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 389-413, July.
    10. Meta Brown & Elizabeth Setren & Giorgio Topa, 2016. "Do Informal Referrals Lead to Better Matches? Evidence from a Firm's Employee Referral System," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 161-209.
    11. Marie Lalanne, 2021. "Social Networks and Job Referrals in Recruitment," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 652, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    12. Berardi, Nicoletta & Lalanne, Marie & Seabright, Paul, 2018. "Professional networks and their coevolution with executive careers: Evidence from North America and Europe," SAFE Working Paper Series 243, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    13. Emma Lappi, 2023. "Help from the past—coworker ties and entry wages after self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1171-1196, March.
    14. Oyer, Paul & Schaefer, Scott, 2011. "Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 20, pages 1769-1823, Elsevier.
    15. Vincent Boucher & Marion Gousse, 2019. "Wage Dynamics and Peer Referrals," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 31, pages 1-23, January.
    16. Jahn, Elke & Neugart, Michael, 2020. "Do neighbors help finding a job? Social networks and labor market outcomes after plant closures," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Cappellari, Lorenzo & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2015. "With a little help from my friends? Quality of social networks, job finding and job match quality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 55-75.
    18. Hellerstein, Judith K. & Kutzbach, Mark J. & Neumark, David, 2014. "Do labor market networks have an important spatial dimension?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 39-58.
    19. Moon, Ji-Woong, 2023. "Strategic referrals and on-the-job search equilibrium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 135-151.
    20. Eliason, Marcus & Hensvik, Lena & Kramarz, Francis & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2017. "The causal impact of social Connections on firms' outcomes," Working Paper Series 2017:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100533. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfsocea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.