Job recruitment networks and migration to cities in India

Iversen, Vegard, Sen, Kunal, Verschoor, Arjan and Dubey, Amaresh (2009) Job recruitment networks and migration to cities in India. Journal of Development Studies, 45 (4). pp. 522-543. ISSN 0022-0388

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Abstract

Economists have focused on job search and supply-side explanations for network effects in labour transactions. This paper develops and tests an alternative explanation for the high prevalence of network-based labour market entry in developing countries. In our theoretical framework, employers use employee networks as screening and incentive mechanisms to improve the quality of recruitment. Our framework suggests a negative relationship between network use and the skill intensity of jobs, a positive association between economic activity and network use and a negative relationship between network use and pro-labour legislation. Furthermore, social identity effects are expected to intensify when compared to information-sharing and other network mechanisms. Using data from an all-India Employment Survey, we implement a novel empirical strategy to test these relationships and find support for our demand-side explanation.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of International Development
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Impact Evaluation
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Gender and Development
University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences
Depositing User: Abigail Dalgleish
Date Deposited: 05 Jan 2011 17:29
Last Modified: 15 Jun 2023 23:49
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/18772
DOI: 10.1080/00220380902725688

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