This chapter begins by reviewing some of the principles. Building on these, the chapter then discusses how social structures and social networks can affect economic outcomes like hiring, price, productivity, and innovation. It focuses on Sociologists have developed core principles about the interactions of social structure, information, ability to punish or reward, and trust that frequently recur in their analyses of political, economic, and other institutions. Thus, network structure can be partially endogenized in labor market analysis. However, there are also a range of alternatives, not commonly included in economic analysis, that work through social groups and create compliance in less intrusive ways. Many studies, comprehensively reviewed in Roger Myersons, show the powerful impact of social structure and networks on the extent and source of innovation and its diffusion. When people trade with others they know, the impact of knowing each other on the price varies with their relationship, the cost of shifting to different partners, and the market situation.

https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/0895330053147958

The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes

The growth of precarious work since the 1970s has emerged as a core contemporary concern within politics, in the media, and among researchers. Uncertain and unpredictable work contrasts with the re...

/pdf/precarious-work-insecure-workers-employment-relations-in-5fvbgvv3hl.pdf

Precarious Work, Insecure Workers: Employment Relations in Transition

As more and more marketers incorporate social media as an integral part of the promotional mix, rigorous investigation of the determinants that impact consumers’ engagement in eWOM via social networks is becoming critical. Given the social and communal characteristics of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, MySpace and Friendster, this study examines how social relationship factors relate to eWOM transmitted via online social websites. Specifically, a conceptual model that identifies tie strength, homophily, trust, normative and informational interpersonal influence as an important antecedent to eWOM behaviour in SNSs was developed and tested. The results confirm that tie strength, trust, normative and informational influence are positively associated with users’ overall eWOM behaviour, whereas a negative relationship was found with regard to homophily. This study suggests that product-focused eWOM in SNSs is a unique phenomenon with important social implications. The implications for research...

Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth in social networking sites

We examine political polarization over climate change within the American public by analyzing data from 10 nationally representative Gallup Polls between 2001 and 2010. We find that liberals and Democrats are more likely to report beliefs consistent with the scientific consensus and express personal concern about global warming than are conservatives and Republicans. Further, the effects of educational attainment and self-reported understanding on global warming beliefs and concern are positive for liberals and Democrats, but are weaker or negative for conservatives and Republicans. Last, significant ideological and partisan polarization has occurred on the issue of climate change over the past decade.

/pdf/the-politicization-of-climate-change-and-polarization-in-the-ibf5i1zeqo.pdf

The politicization of climate change and polarization in the american public's views of global warming, 2001–2010

Persistent racial inequality in employment, housing, and a wide range of other social domains has renewed interest in the possible role of discrimination. And yet, unlike in the pre–civil rights era, when racial prejudice and discrimination were overt and widespread, today discrimination is less readily identifiable, posing problems for social scientific conceptualization and measurement. This article reviews the relevant literature on discrimination, with an emphasis on racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit markets, and consumer interactions. We begin by defining discrimination and discussing relevant methods of measurement. We then provide an overview of major findings from studies of discrimination in each of the four domains; and, finally, we turn to a discussion of the individual, organizational, and structural mechanisms that may underlie contemporary forms of discrimination. This discussion seeks to orient readers to some of the key debates in the study of discrimination and to provide a roadmap for those interested in building upon this long and important line of research.

/pdf/the-sociology-of-discrimination-racial-discrimination-in-4hx9tlxkkx.pdf

The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets

Does social capital affect labor market outcomes? The prevalent use of job contacts to find work suggests that who you know is an important means of getting a good job. Network theories of social capital argue that well-connected workers benefit because of the job information and influence they receive through their social ties. Although a number of studies have found a positive relationship between measures of social capital and wages and/or occupational prestige, little is known about the causal effect of social networks on labor market outcomes. Four data sets are used to reassess findings on the role of social capital in the labor market. A test of causality is proposed based on the argument that if social capital variables do have a causal effect on job outcomes, then workers with high levels of social capital should be more likely to use contacts to find work, all else being equal. Results suggest that much of the effect of social capital in the existing literature reflects the tendency for similar people to become friends rather than a causal effect of friends' characteristics on labor market outcomes.

Social capital and finding a job: Do contacts matter?

Although there is a large literature on social capital, empirical estimates of the effect of social capital may be biased because of social homophily, the tendency of similar people to become friends with each other. Despite the methodological difficulties, a recent literature has emerged across several different disciplines that tries to estimate the causal effect of social capital. This paper reviews this recent empirical literature on social capital, paying close attention to the statistical and theoretical assumptions involved. Overall, there is evidence that genuine progress has been made in estimating the effect of social capital. The reviewed articles should provide useful examples for future research.

Estimating the Causal Effect of Social Capital: A Review of Recent Research

This article uses social network and spatial data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effect of racial residential segregation on school friendship segregation in the United States The use of hierarchical models allows the authors to simultaneously estimate the effects of race, within‐school residential segregation, and school diversity on friendship choice using the Add Health data The authors use these results to predict the decline in friendship segregation that would occur if across‐ and within‐school residential segregation were eliminated in US metropolitan areas The results suggest that about a third of the level of racial friendship segregation in schools is attributable to residential segregation Most of this effect is the result of residential segregation across schools rather than within them

/pdf/residential-segregation-and-interracial-friendship-in-2qlrhkh87v.pdf

Residential segregation and interracial friendship in schools

Occupations are central to the stratification systems of industrial countries, but they have played little role in empirical attempts to explain the well-documented increase in wage inequality that occurred in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s. We address this deficiency by assessing occupation-level effects on wage inequality using data from the Current Population Survey for 1983 through 2008. We model the mean and variance of wages for each occupation, controlling for education and demographic factors at the individual level to test three competing explanations for the increase in wage inequality: (1) the growth of between-occupation polarization, (2) changes in education and labor force composition, and (3) residual inequality unaccounted for by occupations and demographic characteristics. After correcting for a problem with imputed data that biased Kim and Sakamoto’s (2008) results, we find that between-occupation changes explain 66 percent of the increase in wage inequality from 1992 to 2008, ...

Occupations and the Structure of Wage Inequality in the United States, 1980s to 2000s

Recent scholarship claims that bilingualism has a positive effect on the academic achievement of immigrant children. According to this perspective, growing up speaking two languages is beneficial because it stimulates cognitive development and allows immigrants a means of resisting unwanted assimilation. Immigrant children who are fluent bilinguals can use their nutive-language ability to maintain beneficial aspects of their ethnic culture while accommodating to the linguistic demands of an English-speaking society. Using data on first- and second-generation Asian American students from the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study, we test for these hypothesized effects of bilingualism. We find no evidence that bilingualism per se has a positive effect on achievement. Instead, speaking a native language with parents has a temporary positive effect if the parents are not proficient in English. These results indicate that the academic importance of bilingualism is transitional: The educational benefits of delaying linguistic assimilation exist only before immigrant parents achieve a moderate level of English-language proficiency.

http://www.ntpu.edu.tw/social/upload/P_720090226150409.pdf

Ted Mouw

Papers

Social capital and finding a job: Do contacts matter?

Estimating the Causal Effect of Social Capital: A Review of Recent Research

Residential segregation and interracial friendship in schools

Occupations and the Structure of Wage Inequality in the United States, 1980s to 2000s

Bilingualism and the academic achievement of first- and second-generation asian americans: accommodation with or without assimilation?*