Does it pay to have a network contact? Social network ties, workplace racial context, and pay outcomes.
This article investigates how social network use to find work affects pay. Analyses using the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality consider the extent to which a network contact's influence level affects a job applicant's pay, whether this effect differs for white, black, and Latino contacts, and how workplace racial context moderates this relationship. Three main findings emerge. First, having an influential contact--one with hiring authority--compared to having no contact yields higher pay. Second, white and minority contact influence on pay differs: among minority contacts, being an outsider (i.e., someone not employed by the firm to which the applicant applies) is associated with higher pay, but being an employee of the firm--an insider--is not. Third, regardless of workplace racial context, black and Latino contacts' influence is most beneficial when their race/ethnicity is not known to the hiring agent. We offer a new interpretation of the mixed findings with regard to the relationship between social network use and pay.
Kmec
Julie A
JA
Washington State University, Department of Sociology, Pullman, WA 99164-4020, USA. jkmec@wsu.edu
Trimble
Lindsey B
LB
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007586:Job Application; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D010560:Personnel Selection; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011287:Prejudice; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology