Social Capital and Immigration

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Social Capital and Immigration
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Social Capital Theory

• Robert Putnam in Making Democracy Work Civic
  Traditions in Modern Italy
• Networks characterized by

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Networks

• Connections between people

Chet
Chad
Joan
Char
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Kinds of Ties

• Weak ties
• Strong ties

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Trust

• Reliability
• Fairness --- confidence that others will treat
  you fairly when they have the chance to take
  advantage of you.

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Norms of Reciprocity
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Resources Available through Social Capital

• Information
• Influence
• Financial
• Psychological
• In-kind support

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Social Closure
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Social Closure

• Sometimes results from prejudice and
  discrimination
• Resource dependence

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• Sanctions very effective
• Cement implicit contracts
• Closed networks characteristic of new immigrants

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Social Capital and Immigration

• Once initiated, social capital
• Hard to see at this point, how it encourages
  vertical expansion in organizations

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Employers and Immigrant Social Capital

• Hiring for low skill jobs that require ability to
  get along with others, deferential attitude

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• Already employed immigrants
• Conduct search for new hires among their social
  network
• Sponsorship of new hire
• More power over new hire than employer
• Sponsorship provides

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Exclusionary Closure

• Ethnically distinctive insiders monopolize job
  opportunities for members of their network
• Easier for employer

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Usurpationary Closure

• Workers use the power they derive from network
  closure against management
• Exclude other ethnicities

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Bureaucracy and Exclusionary Closure

• Bureaucracies
• Job training formalized

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• Concern about hiring for low level positions
  based on
• Career ladders
• Presentation of org. to public/customers

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Social Capital and Los Angeles Low Wage Employers

• Use referrals and networks to fill jobs
• From employers perspective
• Enhances the networks power

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Network Recruitment and Social Reproduction

• Dominance of Hispanic immigrants in specific
  occupations with sampled employers
• Vast network of Hispanics

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• Becomes exclusionary
• Other groups, even Hispanics from other villages
  excluded

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• Usurpationary closure
• Employees cooperation depends upon employer
  hiring their referrals
• Employers concern about fairness

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• Employers concern about
• Department stores, hospitals
• Front and back of restaurants

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• Self activating nature of network recruitment
  makes it resistant to managements efforts to
  formalize hiring process.

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• Have to be careful about hiring from rival
  cliques
• Loyalty to network (family, village) instead of
  employer