Good Friends in Bad Times? Social Networks and Job Search among the Unemployed in Sweden

Abstract

How information about job openings is distributed is held to be a central determinant of social stratification. Interest here has focused on social networks, yet methodological problems in earlier research prevent definite conclusions from being drawn. Equally serious are the limitations associated with the setting of earlier research, since previous studies have examined the impact of networks in situations in which contact networks would be expected to matter. This article instead explores the limits of social networks by highlighting a situation in which networks are less likely to be of great importance: job search among the unemployed in Sweden. Contact networks have been assumed to be less useful for unemployed job searchers, and Sweden has a substantively important alternative information channel in the public employment agencies. Evidence is offered here on how the employment probability is affected by the use of contacts during the period of job search, with the problem of selection bias taken into explicit consideration. The results indicate network size to be positively related to the probability of employment, but question the importance of tie strength.