1 From Potential to Realization: The Mobilization of Social Capital by Chinese Job Seekers Yanjie Bian, University of Minnesota Xianbi Huang, University of Queensland International Conference on Social Capital, May

2 Theoretical Perspectives on Social Capital  Network membership as social capital: Putnam, Portes  Network structure as social capital: Coleman, Burt  Network resources as social capital: Lin, Erickson

3 Lin’s Theory on 2-Stage Process of Social Capital Mobilization Initial position Network resources Action Extensity of ties AccessMobilization Contacts (Tie strength)

4 Mobilizing Social Capital Johnson, LuAnne R. and David Knoke “‘Skonk Works Here’: Activating Network Social Capital in Complex Collaborations.” Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams 10: SC i = ego i’s social capital from the J alters in its ego- network p ji = ego’s perceived probability of access to use alter j’s resources R j = total resources controlled by alter j that could be useful to ego i

5 Analytical Framework Social Capital Potential Social Capital Realization Network size Network density Network resources Use of contact Contact status Contact help Agency ?

6 The Agency of Social Relations  Social capital as unintended consequences (Arrow)  Social capital from more or less a deliberate process (Granovetter, Lin, Burt)  Social Capital in Chinese Guanxi culture Cultivation: Fei’s “differentiated configuration” Maintenance: Bian’s “social eating” Adjustment: Everyday’s observation

7 Chinese Job Seekers as SR Agents  Search as a deliberate process Who: targeted persons of information & influence How: ties to connect & strategies to secure help What: information & more concrete favor  Job seekers as agents Interests: strong vs. weak Values: relationalist vs. individualist Agency variations: urgency and efforts

8 Analytic Strategy & Research Hypotheses  Two groups of job seekers  Hypotheses H1: Job holders tend to have higher potential social capital than do laid-off workers H2: Laid-off workers tend to have higher mobilized social capital H3: The higher mobilized social capital, the better job search outcome PositionSC potentialSC mobilization On-the-job seekersYesHigherLower urgency Off-the-job seekersNoLowerHigher urgency

9 Research Design  Two groups of job seekers city household sample: about 4,752 workers from a general population sample:  Probability sampling of residents  Job seeking process to the last job 2000 Wuhan city laid-off worker sample: 621 laid-off workers  Cluster sampling of SOE workers  Job seeking process after being laid off

10 General Population Sample Laid-off Work Sample t-test Mean /Percent S.D.Mean /Percent S.D. Network size >*** Network density Network resources >*** Number of cases *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 Table 1. Potential social capital

11 General Population Sample Laid-off Worker Sample t-test Mean/PercentS.D.Mean/PercentS.D. Use of contact <*** Number of contacts used <*** Use of strong ties <*** Information obtained <*** Favor obtained <*** Contact status Administrator In high work-unit rank Professional/manager >*** Number of cases Table 2. Mobilized social capital *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

12 Table 3. Social capital effects Favor obtainedJob match GWLWGWLW Network size-.002* (.998) (.999) (.999) (.999) Network density-.487*** (.614) -.635! (.530) (.807) (.894) Network resources.013*** (1.014).013* (1.013).008*** (1.008).006 (1.006) Favor--.318*** (1.375).732*** (2.079) Control variables(not presented) Constant.337 (1.400) (.100) *** (.097) (3.197) R square Number of cases !p<.10, *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

13 Conclusions  Social capital mobilization is a deliberate process in which the agency of social relations is highly relevant  The agency is reflected in the variation of urgency between an on-the-job seeker and an off-the-job seeker  Urgency variation makes a difference in the amount of mobilized social capital  Social capital has a higher lifting effect for laid-off workers on job matching

14 Q & A Thank you!