Xianbi Huang

Information and favoritism: The network effect on wage income in China

Abstract How do social networks matter for labor market opportunities and outcomes? To fill in a gap between network theory and research evidence, we develop a theoretical explanation of how network-transmitted information and favoritism serve as causal mechanisms of wage income in China. In a large-scale Chinese survey, we find that 59% of the 4350 wage earners land on jobs through social contacts from whom the benefits of information and forms of favoritism are gained. Data analysis shows that (1) both weak ties and strong ties are used by Chinese job seekers to obtain information and favoritism to help secure job opportunities, but (2) weak ties are better able to channel job information than strong ties and strong ties are better able to mobilize forms of favoritism than weak ties, (3) information and favoritism equally promote job–worker matching, which in turn increases wage, and (4) favoritism has a stronger effect than does information on job assignment to positions of superior earning opportunity. This analysis demonstrates the non-spurious, causal effect of social networks on wage income in the Chinese context.

Network resources and job mobility in China's transitional economy

Information and influence are distinct network resources that are embedded in and mobilized from networks of personal contacts. A five-city survey shows that Chinese job changers obtain both kinds of network resources from social ties of varying strengths. During the first 20 years of Chinas market reforms, job changes were increasingly network facilitated; despite the growth of labor markets network allocation of labor had reached dominance by 1992. Job changers using information and influence networks to search for new employment were more likely to increase both job search time and job–worker matching; however, those using influence networks, not information networks, were likely to move into jobs of higher earning opportunity. These results are interpreted in a dynamic context of increasing market competition and growing allocative efficiency.

Beyond the Strength of Social Ties Job Search Networks and Entry-Level Wage in Urban China

This article provides an assessment of the effect of job-search networks on entry-level wage in urban China. The analysis of a 2009 large-scale survey shows that (a) users of social contacts have a significantly higher wage at job entry than nonusers; (b) both strong ties and weak ties increase entry-level wage; (c) network-mobilized information and favoritism increase entry-level wage; and (d) these network effects are stronger in sectors of less institutionalization and for jobs of lower skill specificity, but do not vary significantly from the prereform to the postreform period.

The guanxi influence on occupational attainment in urban China

This article addresses a long-standing controversy about whether or not the influence of guanxi on occupational attainment has been on the decline during China’s market reforms. The authors argue that guanxi continuously plays an influential role in facilitating occupational attainment when China’s labor markets face a great deal of institutional uncertainty. A large-scale survey of job seekers shows that the number of Chinese job seekers who used guanxi contacts to secure employment increased from 40 percent in 1978 to 80 percent in 1999. Job seekers’ ties to guanxi contacts were predominantly strong rather than weak, and these ties were used to obtain both job information and the influence of guanxi favoritism. As compared to information gainers, influence gainers were significantly more satisfied with job outcomes, more satisfied with work relations, and better able to obtain soft-skill jobs when market reforms were deepening in the 1992–1999 period.

Social Networks and Occupational Attainment in Australia

This article contributes to exploring the comparative effects of market mechanisms and social networks and the interplay of human capital and social networks in western labour markets. We examine social networks and occupational attainment by using data from the 2007 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes and provide three major findings: (1) as a job search method, social networks are associated with lower earnings and occupational status and a lower probability of entering a professional or managerial position than market-oriented job search methods; (2) jobs that are found using strong ties have lower occupational attainment than jobs found using weak ties; and (3) the poorer occupational attainment outcomes associated with social networks are only observed among those without university degrees.

Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in Australia: New Evidence from a National Survey

The article draws on data from a national survey in Australia in 2014 to examine how social networks affect life satisfaction and happiness. Findings show that social network composition, social attachment, perceived social support and the volume of social resources are significantly positively associated with life satisfaction and happiness. Stress about social commitments, feeling restricted by social demands and being excluded by a social group are negatively associated with life satisfaction and happiness. These results indicate that social networks have both ‘bright side’ and ‘dark side’ effects on subjective wellbeing.

Market Penetration, Institutional Niches and Job Searches in Reforming China

Using an institutional perspective, this paper explores coexisting job search methods in reforming China. Analysis of the 2003 Chinese General Social Survey data shows that Chinas labour markets are segmented into institutional niches by two key factors: the type of ownership of work organization and the status of the work organization in the market. The effectiveness of job search methods varies across the different institutional niches. Hierarchical arrangements and social networks remain powerful means of obtaining jobs in the state sector, including both monopolistic and competitive work organizations, while job searches using a market-oriented method are comparatively useful for winning jobs in the non-state sector irrespective of whether organizations are competitive or monopolistic in terms of market competition. This paper not only illustrates the value of an institutional approach to labour market research but also reveals the scope of market penetration in Chinas emerging labour markets.