Immigrants’ Social Capital and Labor Market Performance

The Effect of Social Ties on Earnings and Occupational Prestige

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10764457
AutoresMesay A Tegegne (0000-0001-5230-2463, University of Iowa, autor correspondente)
Ano2015
Volume96
Fascículo5
Páginas1396-1410
Data de publicação2015-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Science Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0038-4941 • E-ISSN: 1540-6237
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ssqu.12212
OpenAlexW2180919310
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas24
Referências citadas53

Objectives While a growing body of literature investigates the role of social capital in the labor market outcomes of immigrants, the verdict is still out on whether or not reliance on social networks enhances or constrains labor market performance. This study explores the effect of relying on social ties to find a job on the hourly earnings and occupational prestige of new legal immigrants in the United States. Methods Utilizing data from the New Immigrant Survey 2003 cohort, the effect on occupational outcomes of relying on social ties to locate a job is estimated using both ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and propensity score matching (PSM), to minimize observable selection bias. Propensity score matching is used to identify the treatment effect of using social contacts by comparing the outcomes of closely matched treatment and control groups. Results Both OLS and PSM estimates indicate that using a close contact to find a job has a detrimental effect on earnings and occupational prestige. The effect of social capital, however, varies across groups. Particularly, while social capital has little or no effect on the labor market outcomes of black and Hispanic immigrants, it has a detrimental effect on the occupational prestige of Asian and white immigrants (the effect being stronger for Asians than for whites). Conclusion Social capital research on immigrants’ outcomes should, therefore, take caution in generalizing from group‐specific research, as these findings point to contextual labor market effects of social capital

Demographic economics · Earnings · Economics · Immigration · Interpersonal ties · Labour economics · Matching (statistics) · Occupational prestige · Political science · Population · Propensity score matching · Social capital · Social mobility · Social status · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Medicine · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Psychology · Social Psychology