This article addresses a long-standing controversy about whether or not the influence of guanxi on occupational attainment has been on the decline during China’s market reforms. The authors argue that guanxi continuously plays an influential role in facilitating occupational attainment when China’s labor markets face a great deal of institutional uncertainty. A large-scale survey of job seekers shows that the number of Chinese job seekers who used guanxi contacts to secure employment increased from 40 percent in 1978 to 80 percent in 1999. Job seekers’ ties to guanxi contacts were predominantly strong rather than weak, and these ties were used to obtain both job information and the influence of guanxi favoritism. As compared to information gainers, influence gainers were significantly more satisfied with job outcomes, more satisfied with work relations, and better able to obtain soft-skill jobs when market reforms were deepening in the 1992–1999 period.
BianY (1994a) Work and Inequality in Urban China, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
2.
BianY (1994b) Guanxi and the allocation of urban jobs in China. The China Quarterly140(December): 971–999.
3.
BianY (1997) Bringing strong ties back in: Indirect ties, network bridges, and job searches in China. American Sociological Review62: 266–285.
4.
BianY (1999) Getting a job through a web of guanxi in urban China. In: WellmanB (ed.) Networks in the Global Village, Boulder, CO: Westview, pp. 255–277.
5.
BianY (2002) Institutional holes and job mobility process: Guanxi mechanisms in China’s emerging labor markets. In: GoldTGuthrieDWankD (eds) Social Connections in China, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–136.
6.
BianY (2008) Urban occupational mobility and employment institutions: Hierarchy, market, and networks in a mixed system. In: DavisDWangF (eds) Creating Wealth and Poverty in China, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 165–183.
7.
BianYHuangX (2009) Network resources and job mobility in China's transitional economy. Research in the Sociology of Work19: 255–282.
8.
Bian Y and Huang X (2015) Beyond the strength of social ties: Job search networks and entry-level wage in urban China. American Behavioral Scientist 59: 961–976.
9.
BianYHuangXZhangL (2015) Information and favoritism: The network effect on wage income in China. Social Networks40: 129–138.
10.
BianYIkedaK (2014) East Asian social networks. In: AlhajjRRokneJ (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining, New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, pp. 417–433.
11.
BianYQiuH (2000) Social capital of the firm and its significance. Social Sciences in China2: 87–99.
12.
BianYZhangL (2014) Corporate social capital in Chinese guanxi culture. Research in the Sociology of Organizations40: 417–439.
13.
BianYZhangWChengC (2012) A social network model of job-search processes: Testing the guanxi effect hypothesis. Society3: 24–27.
14.
BoisotMChildJ (1996) From fiefs to clans and network capitalism: Explaining China’s emerging economic order. Administrative Science Quarterly41: 600–628.
15.
BoroczJSouthworthC (1998) 'Who you know': Earnings effects of formal and informal social network resources under late state socialism in Hungary, 1986–87. Journal of Socio-Economics27: 401–425.
16.
BridgesWVillemezWJ (1986) Informal hiring and income in the labor market. American Sociological Review51(4): 574–582.
17.
BurtRS (1992) Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
BurtRS (2000) The network structure of social capital. Research in Organizational Behavior22: 345–423.
19.
ChangK-C (2011) A path to understanding guanxi in China’s transitional economy: Variations on network behavior. Sociological Theory29(4): 315–339.
20.
ChenCCChenX-PHuangS (2013) Chinese guanxi: An integrative review and new directions for future research. Management and Organization Review9(1): 167–207.
21.
CorcoranMDatcherLDuncanG (1980) Information and influence networks in labor markets. In: DuncanGJMorganJN (eds) Five Thousand American Families: Patterns of Economic ProgressVol. 8, Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, pp. 1–37.
22.
CoverdillJE (1998) Personal contacts and post-hire job outcomes: Theoretical and empirical notes on the significance of matching methods. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility16: 247–269.
23.
DavisDS (1990) Urban job mobility. In: DavisDVogelEF (eds) Chinese Society on the Eve of Tiananmen, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 85–108.
24.
De GraafNDFlapHD (1988) 'With a little help from my friends': Social resources as an explanation of occupational status and income in West Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Social Forces67: 452–472.
25.
FeiX (1949/1992) From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society. A Translation of Fei Xiaotong's Xiangtu Zhongguo, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
26.
GranovetterMS (1973) The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology78(6): 1360–1380.
27.
GranovetterMS (1974) Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
(1995) Afterword 1994: Reconsiderations and a new agenda. In: GranovetterMS (ed.) Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, 2nd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 139–182.
29.
GuoCMillerJK (2010) Guanxi dynamics and entrepreneurial firm creation and development in China. Management and Organization Review6(2): 267–291.
30.
GuthrieD (1998) The declining significance of guanxi in China’s economic transition. The China Quarterly154: 254–282.
31.
GuthrieD (2002) Information asymmetries and the problem of perception: The significance of structural position in accessing the importance of guanxi in China. In: GoldTGuthrieDWankD (eds) Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture, and the Changing Nature of Guanxi, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 37–56.
32.
HanserA (2002) Youth job searches in urban China: The use of social connections in a changing labor market. In: GoldTGuthrieTWankD (eds) Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture, and the Changing Nature of Guanxi, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 137–161.
33.
HuangKPYuanK (2011) How guanxi relates to social capital? A psychological perspective. Journal of Social Sciences7(2): 120–126.
34.
HuangX (2008) Guanxi networks and job searches in China’s emerging labour market: A qualitative investigation. Work, Employment and Society22(3): 467–484.
35.
HuangXBianY (2015) Job-search networks and wage attainment in China: A comparison of job changers and non-changers. International Journal of Japanese Sociology24: 6–19.
36.
HwangK (1987) Face and favor: The Chinese power game. American Journal of Sociology92: 944–974.
37.
KingA (1985) The individual and group in Confucianism: A relational perspective. In: MunroD (ed.) Individualism and Holism: Studies in Confucian and Taoist Values, Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, pp. 57–70.
38.
KipnisA (1997) Producing Guanxi, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
39.
LiSXYaoXSue-ChanC (2011) Where do social ties come from: Institutional framework and governmental tie distribution among Chinese managers. Management and Organization Review7(1): 97–124.
40.
LiangS (1949/1986) The Essential Meanings of Chinese Culture, Hong Kong: Zheng Zhong Press.
41.
LinN (1982) Social resources and instrumental action. In: MarsdenPFLinN (eds) Social Structure and Network Analysis, Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE, pp. 131–145.
42.
LinN (1995) Local market socialism: Rural reform in China. Theory and Society24: 301–354.
43.
LinN (1999) Social networks and status attainment. Annual Review of Sociology25: 467–487.
44.
LinN (2001a) Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action, New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
45.
LinN (2001b) Guanxi: A Conceptual Analysis. In: SoALinNPostonD (eds) The Chinese Triangle of Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong: Comparative Institutional Analysis, Westport, CT: Greenwood, pp. 153–166.
46.
LinN (2011) Capitalism in China: A centrally managed capitalism (CMC) and its future. Management and Organization Review7(1): 63–96.
47.
LinNXieW (1988) Occupational prestige in urban China. American Journal of Sociology93(4): 793–832.
48.
LinNBianY (1991) Getting ahead in urban China. American Journal of Sociology97: 657–688.
49.
LinNAoDSongL (2008) Production and returns of social capital. In: HsungRMLinNBreigerR (eds) Contexts of Social Capital: Social Networks in Communities, Markets and Organizations, London, UK: Routledge, pp. 107–132. . Lo M-CM and Otis EM (2003) Guanxi civility: Processes, potentials, and contingencies. Politics & Society 31(1): 131–162.
50.
LoganJBianY (1993) Access to community resources in a Chinese city. Social Forces72(3): 555–576.
51.
LuoYHuangYWangSL (2012) Guanxi and organizational performance: A meta-analysis. Management and Organization Review8(1): 139–172.
52.
MarsdenPVHurlbertJS (1988) Social resources and mobility outcomes: A replication and extension. Social Forces66(4): 1038–1059.
53.
MarsdenPVCampbellKE (1984) Measuring tie strength. Social Forces63(2): 482–501.
54.
McDonaldS (2015) Network effects across the earnings distribution: Payoffs to visible and invisible job finding assistance. Social Science Research49: 299–313.
55.
MichelsonE (2007) Lawyers, political embeddedness, and institutional continuity in China’s transition from socialism. American Journal of Sociology113(2): 352–414.
56.
MontgomeryJD (1992) Job search and network composition: Implications of the strength-of-weak-ties hypothesis. American Sociological Review57: 586–596.
57.
MouwT (2003) Social capital and finding a job: Do contacts matter?American Sociological Review68(6): 868–898.
58.
MouwT (2006) Estimating the causal effect of social capital: A review of recent research. Annual Review of Sociology32: 79–102.
59.
NeeV (1989) A theory of market transition: From redistribution to markets in state socialism. American Sociological Review54(5): 663–681.
60.
NeeV (1992) Organizational dynamics of market transition: Hybrid forms, property rights, and mixed economy in China. Administrative Science Quarterly37(1): 1–27.
61.
NewmanMBarabásiA-LWattsDJ (2006) The Structure and Dynamics of Networks, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
62.
ObukhovaE (2012) Motivation vs. relevance: Using strong ties to find a job in China. Social Science Research41(3): 470–480.
63.
ObukhovaELanG (2013) Do job-seekers benefit from contacts? A direct test with contemporaneous searches. Management Science59(10): 2204–2216.
64.
ParnellM (2005) Chinese business guanxi: An organization or non-organization?Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change2(1): 29–47.
65.
PengY (2004) Kingship networks and entrepreneurship in China's transitional economy. American Journal of Sociology109(5): 1045–1074.
66.
PortesA (1998) Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology24: 1–24.
67.
QiX (2013) Guanxi, social capital theory, and beyond: Toward a globalized social science. British Journal of Sociology64(2): 308–324.
68.
ReesA (1966) Information networks in labor markets. American Economic Review56(1/2): 559–566.
69.
RosenbaumJEDeLucaSMillerSR (1999) Pathways into work: short- and long-term effects of personal and institutional ties. Sociology of Education72(3): 179–196.
70.
SalonerG (1985) Old boy networks as screening mechanisms. Journal of Labor Economics3(3): 255–267.
71.
SeidelMDPolzerJTStewartKJ (2000) Friends in high places: The effects of social networks on discrimination in salary negotiations. Administrative Science Quarterly45: 1–24.
72.
SimonCJWarnerJT (1992) Matchmaker, matchmaker: The effect of old boy networks on job match quality, earnings, and tenure. Journal of Labor Economics10(3): 306–330.
73.
SmithS (2000) Mobilizing social resources: Race, ethnic, and gender differences in social capital and persisting wage inequalities. Sociological Quarterly41(4): 509–537.
74.
SonJLinN (2012) Network diversity, contact diversity, and status attainment. Social Networks34(4): 601–613.
75.
TillyC (1995) Popular Contention in Great Britain, 1758–1834, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
76.
TungRWormV (2001) Network capitalism: The role of human resources in penetrating the China market. The International Journal of Human Resource Management12(4): 517–534.
77.
WalderAG (1986) Communist Neo-Traditionalism: Work and Authority in Chinese Industry, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
78.
WalderAG (1992) Property rights and stratification in socialist redistributive economies. American Sociological Review57: 524–539.
79.
WankD (1999) Commodifying Communism: Business, Trust, and Politics in a Chinese City, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
80.
WellmanB (1979) The community question: The intimate networks of East Yorkers. American Journal of Sociology84(5): 1201–1231.
81.
WellmanBChenWDongW (2002) Networking guanxi. In: GoldTGuthrieDWankD (eds) Social Connections in China, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 221–242.
82.
WhyteMKParishWL (1984) Urban Life in China, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
83.
YakubovichVKozinaI (2000) The changing significance of ties: An explanation of the hiring channels in the Russian transitional labor market. International Sociology15(3): 479–500.
84.
YanY (1996) The Flow of Gifts: Reciprocity and Social Networks in a Chinese Village, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
85.
YangM (1994) Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
86.
YangM (2002) The resilience of guanxi and its new deployments: A critique of some new guanxi scholarship. The China Quarterly170(June): 459–476.
87.
ZhaoW (2013) Social networks, job search and income disparity in a transitional economy: An institutional embeddedness argument. Research in Sociology of Work24: 103–132.
88.
ZhouXTumaNBMoenP (1996) Stratification dynamics under state socialism. Social Forces28: 440–468.
89.
ZhouXTumaNBMoenP (1997) Institutional change and job-shift patterns in urban China. American Sociological Review62: 339–365.
90.
ZhouXZhaoWLiQ (2003) Embeddedness and contractual relationships in China’s transition economy. American Sociological Review68(1): 75–102.
