Unequal Ties: Immigrants' Initial Social Capital and Labor Market Stratification.
Saved in:
| Title: | Unequal Ties: Immigrants' Initial Social Capital and Labor Market Stratification. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Park, Sung S, Lai, Tianjian, Waldinger, Roger D |
| Source: | Social Forces. Sep2022, Vol. 101 Issue 1, p473-505. 33p. |
| Subjects: | Social capital, Emigration & immigration, Labor market, Labor market segmentation, Occupational structure, Occupational mobility |
| Abstract: | Social capital (SC) plays a fundamental role in immigration by easing entry into a new environment. We advance a novel approach to assessing the role of SC for immigrants' labor market incorporation. First, we isolate the impact of SC activation from the mere presence of potential help. Second, we disentangle the diverse components of migration-related SC by distinguishing between individual migration- (IM) and community migration-level (CM) connections in the country of destination. Third, we trace the roles of IM SC and CM SC across multiple labor market outcomes, ranging from the search to secure the first job to the quality of the first job to longer-term occupational mobility. Absent activation, IM SC has virtually no impact on any of the outcomes. Rather, migrants' IM SC yield their fundamental impact when activated, contributing to a successful job search while steering them into first jobs that are of lower-quality relative to their pre-migration occupation. By contrast, CM SC facilitates the initial job search and filters immigrants into higher-quality first jobs. Moreover, immigrants who arrive when CM SC is at its most mature stage reap the clearest benefits in improving their occupational status. These findings underscore the importance of both early settlement IM SC and CM SC in the processes of immigrants' labor market stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Social Forces is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | Social capital (SC) plays a fundamental role in immigration by easing entry into a new environment. We advance a novel approach to assessing the role of SC for immigrants' labor market incorporation. First, we isolate the impact of SC activation from the mere presence of potential help. Second, we disentangle the diverse components of migration-related SC by distinguishing between individual migration- (IM) and community migration-level (CM) connections in the country of destination. Third, we trace the roles of IM SC and CM SC across multiple labor market outcomes, ranging from the search to secure the first job to the quality of the first job to longer-term occupational mobility. Absent activation, IM SC has virtually no impact on any of the outcomes. Rather, migrants' IM SC yield their fundamental impact when activated, contributing to a successful job search while steering them into first jobs that are of lower-quality relative to their pre-migration occupation. By contrast, CM SC facilitates the initial job search and filters immigrants into higher-quality first jobs. Moreover, immigrants who arrive when CM SC is at its most mature stage reap the clearest benefits in improving their occupational status. These findings underscore the importance of both early settlement IM SC and CM SC in the processes of immigrants' labor market stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 00377732 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/sf/soab130 |
