 Modelling the costs of informal networking: Evidence from the Western Balkans regionAdnan Efendic and Alena Ledeneva No 2018-3, UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series from UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) Abstract: This is the first study to explore costs of informal networking in the Western Balkans. In a comparative survey, we find that informal networking, or use of personal contacts for getting things done, is common in the region while the economic cost of informal networking is substantial (100 euros against average monthly income of 250 Euros). In the structure of networking costs, the estimated costs of invested time, a proxy for sociability, dominate over money. Higher costs are associated with larger networks built on strong ties. Respondents who perceive networking as important tend to invest more time and money. The informal networking costs are also higher for those with more education and income, and for entrepreneurs. Individuals bear the high costs of informal networking not only for social and culturally determined reasons, but also with an instrumental purpose. Our evidence suggests that both sociability and instrumentality drive informal networking. Keywords: networking; informal networking; cost of networking; Western Balkans; informal networks (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:see:wpaper:2018:3 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series from UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) Contact information at EDIRC. |
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