Why Do Firms Hire Using Referrals? Evidence from Bangladeshi Garment Factories
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10173049 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel Heath (0000-0002-2182-2906, University of Washington, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 126 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1691-1746 |
| Publication date | 2018-03-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3808 • E-ISSN: 1537-534X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/697903 |
| OpenAlex | W2299379726 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 30 |
| References cited | 38 |
I argue that firms use referrals from current workers to mitigate a moral hazard problem. I develop a model in which referrals relax a limited liability constraint by allowing the firm to punish the referral provider if the recipient has low output. I test the model’s predictions using household survey data that I collected in Bangladesh. I can control for correlated wage shocks within a network and correlated unobserved type between the recipient and provider. I reject the testable implications of models in which referrals help firms select unobservably good workers or are solely a nonwage benefit to providers
Actuarial science · Business · Constraint (computer-aided design · Control (management · Demographic economics · Economics · Family medicine · Incentive · Labour economics · Liability · Microeconomics · Moral hazard · Referral · Test (biology · Wage · Engineering · Finance · Medicine · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Taxation and Compliance Studies
When Strong Ties are Strong
Referral-based Job Search Networks
How Do Labor Market Networks Work?
Drivers of mobility
Screening and Signalling Non-Cognitive Skills
Formalized employee search and labor demand
Governance of overwork among migrant workers
The Role of Referrals in Immobility, Inequality, and Inefficiency in Labor Markets
Does Job Search Assistance Reduce Unemployment? Evidence on Displacement Effects and Mechanisms
You Can(’t) Always Get the Job You Want
Social Mobility in Developing Countries
Declining Inequality and Persistent Inequality Structures
Skeptical Employers
Social Networks, Job Matching and Labor Market Outcomes in Low-Skilled Jobs
Social Networks and the Geographies of Young People's Migration
Which Skills Matter for What Type of Worker? Cognitive Skills, Personality Traits, Hiring Channels and Wages in Bangladesh
Help from the past—coworker ties and entry wages after self-employment
Women’s Access to Labor Market Opportunities, Control of Household Resources, and Domestic Violence
Can referral improve targeting? Evidence from an agricultural training experiment
Social ties at work and effort choice
Manufacturing growth and the lives of Bangladeshi women
Fertility at work
The effects of international scrutiny on manufacturing workers
Entrepreneurship versus joblessness
What Do Employee Referral Programs Do? Measuring the Direct and Overall Effects of a Management Practice
Why the Referential Treatment? Evidence from Field Experiments on Referrals
Why Do Firms Hire Using Referrals? Evidence from Bangladeshi Garment Factories
Referral Networks and Inequality
Employee Referral, Social Proximity, and Worker Discipline
What Makes a Contact Valuable? Hiring, Organizational Networks and the Advantages of Network Closure
Keeping it in the family
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the New Immigration
Grandmothers and Granddaughters
Learning about a New Technology
The Effects of Social Networks on Employment and Inequality
Performance Pay and Wage Inequality
Risk and Insurance in a Rural Credit Market
When Strong Ties are Strong
Referral-based Job Search Networks
Returns to social network capital among traders
Networks in the Modern Economy
Social Networks and the Dynamics of Labour Market Outcomes
Imperfect Commitment, Altruism, and the Family
What determines female autonomy? Evidence from Bangladesh
Why Is There Mandatory Retirement
Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill
Place of Work and Place of Residence
Why Do Firms Hire Using Referrals? Evidence from Bangladeshi Garment Factories
Bringing Strong Ties Back in
Referral and Job Performance
The Strength of Weak Ties
The Strength of Weak Ties
Social Capital at Work
| Unique citing works | 30 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 30 |