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Author: Axelrod, Huong Thi Ngoc
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Axelrod, Huong Thi Ngoc
Three Essays in Labor Economics
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, Syracuse University, 2021
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Heterogeneity; Job Search; Occupational Information Network (O*NET); Social Contacts/Social Network; Wage Determination

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Chapter 3 investigates heterogeneity in the effect of social networks on starting wage. Using social networks is a prevalent method of finding jobs. However, the effect of using social contacts on wages may depend on the type of job. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), I estimate log real starting wage regressions for the whole sample and for each of the 22 major occupational groups. The main variable of interest is a binary indicator that takes value 1 if the currently employed worker used the method "contacted friends or relatives", possibly together with other job search methods, to look for work at the time when he found his current job. I find that there is heterogeneity in the effect: for 13 out of 22 occupation groups, the effect is negative. For 3 out of the 13 groups with a negative effect, the effect is statistically significant. Workers who contacted friends or relatives to look for work in management occupations, healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, construction and extraction occupations suffer a starting wage penalty compared to workers who did not, while workers who contacted friends or relatives in transportation and material moving occupations enjoy a starting wage premium. To explore the possible mechanisms behind these findings, I use the Occupational Information Network (O*NET 1998) to characterize the content of tasks in each occupation. I find that contacting friends or relatives while looking for work reduces the positive effect of having a job with a higher score on the nonroutine analytical (math) O*NET measure, lessens the negative effect of having a job with a higher score on the "number facility" O*NET measure, and intensifies the negative effect of having a job with a higher score on the "coordinate" O*NET measure, on log real starting wage.
Bibliography Citation
Axelrod, Huong Thi Ngoc. Three Essays in Labor Economics. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, Syracuse University, 2021.