Gender differences in recruitment channel usage could derive from differences in the
quantity and quality of network ties. Based on the homophily concept, Mortensen and Vishwanath (1994) argued that lower labour market participation rates of females result in fewer contacts to employed network members if networks mainly consist of job seekers of the same sex. If networks are largely homogeneous, females might be disadvantaged regarding
the quality of their ties as female labour force participation is usually lower.28 Ties to full-time
workers are more likely to convey information on job vacancies. Thus, females rely more heavily on formal means compared to males. Focussing on gender differences, Huffman and Torres (2001) and Straits (1998) found evidence for a significantly lower use of informal means by females. This can be summarised to:
28 In 2011, female labour market participation was lower than male participation (58.5 respectively 70.1, EU-27) and females were more likely to work part-time in all EU countries (European Comission, 2013).
46 Determinants of Job Finding via Social Capital
H1 (gender): Males are more likely to find a job via social ties than females.
Age is likely to be another important determinant of source choice. Glaeser et al. (2002)
interpreted the formation of social capital as an optimal individual investment decision. During their lifetime, individuals invest in valuable relations and disinvest in relations which are not promising any more. Hence, within a longer investment period – measured as age – individuals are likely to generate more social capital than younger individuals. In old age, however, investments in social capital appear less profitable as the amortisation period becomes shorter. Furthermore, according to the homophily idea, networks mainly contain members of the same age cohort. As labour force participation decreases with age (European Comission, 2013), older job seekers dispose of less valuable ties. This inverted u-shaped relation between social capital and age is confirmed by evidence provided by Glaeser et al. (2002). On the other hand, younger individuals are more likely to search for a new job on the internet. Empirical evidence is presented by Grund (2006) who showed that those who found their jobs on the internet are roughly three years younger compared to other job seekers. This can be explained by higher access rates to the internet among younger generations and higher familiarity and knowledge in dealing with computers (Cutler et al., 2003). This leads to:
H2 (age): Middle-aged job seekers are more likely to find a job via social ties than younger or older job seekers (inverted u–shape). Young job seekers are more likely to find a job via internet than older job seekers.
The level of formal education is one crucial determinant of labour market success such as career prospects and wage income (Mincer, 1958, 1974). Two opposing effects of education on recruitment channel usage can be considered. On the one hand, education can serve as a signal of ability and motivation (Spence, 1973). Applicants with a low level of education or even without any education at all are not able to display their motivation and occupational skills by reliable formal certificates in the formal application process. Referrals could, therefore, serve as a promising strategy to find a job for low-skilled job seekers. The higher the level of education the better individuals are able to convey trustworthy information via formal channels. On the other hand, the homophily hypothesis suggests that highly educated job seekers are more likely to be in networks with more highly educated members. Thus, highly educated individuals are more likely to dispose of more effective ties to find a job. Furthermore, Glaeser et al. (2002) found evidence that investments in human capital coincide with investments in social capital. Therefore, the relationship between these two variables could be described as:
47 Determinants of Job Finding via Social Capital
H3 (level of education): Job seekers with either low or high levels of education are more likely to find a job via social ties than job seekers with medium level of education (inverted u-shape).
Marriage appears to be unlikely to affect recruitment channel usage. The social connection
between married partners can be described as a strong tie in terms of Granovetter (1973). Although partners should have a strong interest in providing information about vacancies or to refer their partner to their supervisors, such contacts are most likely redundant. Furthermore, employers may not believe that referrals by a spouse deliver trustworthy information about the applicants’ qualifications. Even though one could assume that the partner could help to bridge a structural hole between two distinct networks (Burt, 1992), this bridging function does not become stronger through marriage. Both partners are likely to have access to each other’s social ties, which is not likely to alter through marriage. Therefore, no testable hypothesis can be derived.
H4 (marital status): No testable hypothesis.
Children in the household affect everyday life in many ways. Especially young children
have to be taken care of which means one older household member might have to reduce working time or even have to take a break in his/her career. Within this time of childcare, one could assume that parents spend less time for maintaining existing ties. However, this effect
might not be the same for both genders.29 With respect to the persisting traditional role model,
women are widely responsible for childcare. As a consequence, women might have less time to invest in valuable relations. Besides, mothers are likely to spend more time with other mothers who dispose of less valuable ties themselves. Heinzler and Kimhi (2012) were able to confirm the negative networking effect of children for females, whereas, males show higher involvement in social networks. Taking these considerations into account one can state:
H5 (children in household): Fathers are more likely to find jobs via social ties than mothers.
The economic literature has provided ample evidence that immigrants often face considerable obstacles in the job search process (see e.g. Kahanec, Zaiceva, 2009). Immigrants suffer from a “liability of foreignness” (LOF, Harvey et al., 2005) when they
29 To account for the assumed heterogeneity in the effect of children in the household, gender and children in household are interacted (see chapter 3.4.3).
48 Determinants of Job Finding via Social Capital
search for a job in their host countries due to a lack of legitimacy (Fang et al., 2013).30 Loury
(1977) argued out that immigrants are less successful in the labour market because of lacking social capital. Immigrants have to establish social ties to other individuals in their host country which takes time and might be hindered by language and cultural barriers. However, immigrants are likely to have difficulties applying via formal means as well because formal channels usually require (written) language skills at the level of natives. Furthermore, in a correspondence test Kaas and Manger (2012) found that a German-sounding name in the application increased the probability of a call-back by 14 percent compared to a Turkish- sounding name. Disadvantages are more pronounced for immigrants who completed their education in their home countries (Aldashev et al., 2012). This implies that employers do not trust foreign education certificates. As a result, immigrants might benefit even stronger from the information provided through social networks (chapter 2.5.1) to overcome information asymmetries. Moreover, Frijters et al. (2005) found evidence that immigrants in the UK utilise informal channels more frequently than natives. Overall, it is therefore concluded:
H6 (immigrant): Immigrants are more likely to find a job via social ties than natives.