Network Resources and Job Search in Urban China

Abstract

I examine the role of network resources in job search in urban China between 1988 and 2000. Data are from a recent survey in a Chinese city. I show that personal networks still contribute positively to job search in the post-1988 period. Network resources are mobilized to influence both access to job information and assistance in job attainment. However, job seekers without university education have greater incentives than college graduates to use network resources in job search. These findings allow me to reflect upon four issues in network research: (1) the use of social contacts for job search in a competitive labour market, (2) the relationship between the use of network resources and the distribution of such resources in society, (3) the relationship between social status and the use of social contacts, and (4) strong ties and information gathering.

Weak ties, strong ties, and job mobility in urban China: 1978–2008

“…Some quantitative research finds that network use in job searching increased in the early stage (Bian, 2002b;Zhao, 2013) and continued to increase in the later stage of the transformation . Others find that returns to networks on job mobility declines with the level of marketization (Zhang and Cheng, 2012;Zhang and Guo, 2011;Zhang, 2006).…”

“…indicting whether the respondent is female (1 = yes; 0 = no). Education is negatively associated with network use in job searching in urban China (Zang, 2003;Zhang, 2006). To that end, we measure education as the highest degree ever obtained and is classified into three categories: junior high or less (reference category), senior high, and college and up.…”

A third type of job search behavior: the use of the formal-informal joint channel in matching individual qualifications with hiring requirements in urban China

“…Parental education has long been documented as exerting the foremost impact on an individual's socialization process (Blau and Duncan et al 1967;Warren et al 2002). Meanwhile, in China, parents' political values also significantly impact the formation of the individual's characteristics related to non-certifiable qualifications (Zang 2003). Considering the patriarchal culture in Chinese society, father's education and party membership were thus used as indicators of family status origin.…”

State Ownership, Legal Institution, and Independent Director Compensation: An Exploratory Study in China

“…Rather than measuring the extensiveness of guanxi itself, which is difficult to quantify objectively, we measure guanxi by measuring the outcome of guanxi. Research shows that guanxi helps provide job seekers with access to information about job vacancies (Zang, 2003), and jobs tend to be allocated to those with stronger connections than those with weak connections (Bian and Ang, 1997). Guanxi is especially beneficial for attaining 'soft-skill' jobs, such as manager or director jobs, which are non-task-specific and the performance of which is difficult to measure or monitor (Huang, 2008).…”