Cultural diversity, social network, and off-farm employment: Evidence from China

Ling Wang and Jianqing Ruan

International Review of Economics & Finance, 2024, vol. 89, issue PB, 581-596

Abstract: Farmers rely increasingly on off-farm employment to enhance incomes. Previous studies have emphasized the role of social networks in securing off-farm employment, but have ignored that the formation of social networks is shaped by cultural environment. Using data from a nationally representative survey in China, this paper shows that farmers from regions with larger cultural diversity are less likely to participate in off-farm employment and obtain lower off-farm wages. The negative impact of cultural diversity comes from the reduction in job information from social networks of weak ties and is moderated by the urbanization policy of providing formal information sources.

Keywords: Off-farm employment; Cultural diversity; Linguistic diversity; Social networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J6 Q1 Z1 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reveco:v:89:y:2024:i:pb:p:581-596

DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2023.10.021

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