Laura Gee, Tufts University
Laura Gee, Tufts University
Social Networks and Labor Markets: How Strong Ties Relate to Job Transmission Using Facebook's Social Network
Social Networks and Labor Markets: How Strong Ties Relate to Job Transmission Using Facebook's Social Network
02 Oct 201311:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Open to public
Location:
Cotting Conference Room
Organizer:
Social Networks and Labor Markets: How Strong Ties Relate to Job Transmission On Facebook's Social Network
Laura Gee and Jason Jones
ABSTRACT
Most people find jobs via social network contacts. Since helping friends is costly, one might assume that close friends help more. Granovetter (1973), however, argued most jobs come from weaker ties. We test this "strength of weak ties" hypothesis using millions of employment histories from an online social network and address endogenous tie strength through timing, individual fixed effects, and control variables. First, we find that most jobs come from weaker ties, but only because weaker ties are numerous in networks. Second, we show when stronger ties exist they help more, suggesting that strong relationships are important for finding employment.
*For a copy of the paper, please email sraza@hbs.edu