The formation of job referral networks: Experimental evidence from urban Ethiopia

Antonia Stefano Caria and Ibrahim Worku Hassen

No 1282, IFPRI discussion papers from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: In this study we focus on exclusion from job contact networks, which constitutes a major disadvantage for labor market participants in settings where referral hiring is common and information about jobs hard to obtain. In a mid-size town in northern Ethiopia, where these mechanisms are at work, we observe that many individuals do not access local job contact networks. Models of strategic network formation and behavioral decision theory suggest that given the right incentives, job contact networks should be more inclusive. On these grounds we hypothesize that workers would link to peripheral peers when this maximizes their chances of referral and when self-regarding concerns are absent due to social preferences.

Keywords: social networks; labour market; field experimentation; Ethiopia; Eastern Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-cbe, nep-cdm, nep-exp, nep-gth, nep-hrm, nep-lab, nep-net, nep-soc, nep-spo and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1282

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