Relational work in Nicaragua’s low-wage labor market

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey M Ibañez
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Labor Market Institutions ◽  
Wage Labor ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Safety Nets

Abstract In low-wage labor markets, job seekers often rely on referrals from network members to find work. For job seekers, the challenge is to mobilize personal relationships to find work, and for contacts, the objective is to minimize risk while maintaining their relationships. Most of what we know about the low-wage job search comes from studies of societies with highly developed labor market institutions and social safety nets, leaving a gap in our understanding of less-institutionalized settings. This article analyzes the social processes through which job seekers and their contacts manage the risk and uncertainty of the low-wage labor market while managing their relationships with each other in Nicaragua, where steady employment is scarce and institutional supports are few. By applying the relational work framework, which is ideal for studying exchanges that occur among interpersonal relations in contexts of uncertainty, this study shows how job seekers and contacts pursue their goals of employment and risk management while maintaining their relations. Deceptive relational work is deployed by job seekers and contacts to preserve relationships when exchange is either impossible or undesirable, and the deceptive relational work of contacts disadvantages job seekers.

Job Referrals in the Global South

Contexts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-41
Author(s):  
Lindsey Ibañez
Keyword(s):  
Job Search ◽  
Global South ◽  
Labor Market Institutions ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Employment Relation ◽  
Global North ◽  
Social Safety Nets ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
And Control ◽  
Lower Income Countries

Most sociological studies of job searching are from higher-income, industrialized countries, often referred to as the Global North. Much less is understood about job search behavior in the lower-income countries of the Global South, where there are fewer labor market institutions, weaker social safety nets, higher underemployment, more informality, and more precarity. In this environment of deprivation and insecurity, low-wage workers in the Global South turn to their personal networks for the resources that markets and states cannot provide. While job referrals allow workers to earn a living, however, they also extend employer surveillance and control beyond the bounds of the employment relation.

scholarly journals Race and Networks in the Job Search Process

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 983-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Pedulla ◽  
Devah Pager
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Job Offers

Racial disparities persist throughout the employment process, with African Americans experiencing significant barriers compared to whites. This article advances the understanding of racial labor market stratification by bringing new theoretical insights and original data to bear on the ways social networks shape racial disparities in employment opportunities. We develop and articulate two pathways through which networks may perpetuate racial inequality in the labor market: network access and network returns. In the first case, African American job seekers may receive fewer job leads through their social networks than white job seekers, limiting their access to employment opportunities. In the second case, black and white job seekers may utilize their social networks at similar rates, but their networks may differ in effectiveness. Our data, with detailed information about both job applications and job offers, provide the unique ability to adjudicate between these processes. We find evidence that black and white job seekers utilize their networks at similar rates, but network-based methods are less likely to lead to job offers for African Americans. We then theoretically develop and empirically test two mechanisms that may explain these differential returns: network placement and network mobilization. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for scholarship on racial stratification and social networks in the job search process.

scholarly journals The Social Safety Nets and Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan: An Evaluation of Livelihood Enhancement and Protection Programme

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Asif Javed ◽  
Vaqar Ahmed ◽  
Bakhrul Khair Amal
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
Social Safety Nets

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 intends to end poverty of all forms and the government of Pakistan is also targeting poverty alleviation through social safety nets. ‘Ehsaas’ is the major social safety nets proramme which include various initiatives that are benefiting millions of households. The study examines the state of poverty in Pakistan and also highlights the spending under each social safety net. Furthermore, the study also evaluates the Livelihood Enhancement and Protection (LEP) programme which is a major initiative for poverty alleviation under Ehsaas programme. Survey in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan provinces were conducted of those beneficiaries who are getting asset and skills training. It was found that asset provision and skills trainings are helpful in increasing the earnings and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to poor households.

The Eight-Hour Day and the Legitimacy of Wage Labor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Jentz ◽  
Richard Schneirov
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The Self ◽  
Economic Order ◽  
Wage Labor ◽  
Free Labor ◽  
National Debate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Recognition

This chapter discusses the eight-hour movement. National in scope, the movement for an eight-hour workday prompted the first public recognition of how capitalism—commonly called the “wages system” after its most obvious aspect—was affecting American social life. This public recognition came amid a generation-long national debate about slavery, free labor, and the roles of both in defining the social and economic order desired by Americans. The chapter then addresses the question of “whether time was a property that could be alienated from the self.” Those who answered “Yes” accepted the legitimacy of the labor market, at least to the point of trying to organize institutions and social life within it. People who answered “No” rejected the legitimacy of the labor market, even if they struggled to survive within it until they established an alternative to it.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Dr. V. Darling Selvi, ◽  
◽  
K. Veilatchi
Keyword(s):  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Economic Report ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Development Path ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sample Test ◽  
Social Safety Nets ◽  
Global Solidarity

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis are posing huge challenges, raising many unknowns, and imposing wrenching trade-offs. Both crises are global, but their impacts are deeply local. The policy response to both crises needs to be rapid, even if it is rough around the edges. But countries cannot pull this off on their own—the global crises require global solidarity and coordination. Governments must dramatically overhaul policies and invest in public health, economic stimulus, and social safety nets, to help countries recover faster from the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic report warns that a patchwork of preexisting solutions won’t work and points out those governments must coordinate with each other to hasten the recovery. This is a global crisis and working in silos is not an option, it says. The report `Position Note on the Social and Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific` calls on countries in the region to avoid returning to the pre-pandemic environmentally unsustainable development path, and to capitalize on the opportunity to build a better future. The study covers the primary data collected related to the topic and primary data was collected through Google forms sample size of 78. The collected primary data was analyzed by using Paired sample test, KMO and Bartlett`s Test, and Factor Analysis with the help of SPSS.

scholarly journals Stagflation, the Labor Market Impact, and the Poverty Puzzle in Pakistan: A Preliminary Analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (Special Edition) ◽  
pp. 51-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashid Amjad
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Poverty Dynamics ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Social Safety Nets ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Double Digit ◽  
Close Integration

This article discusses the impact of the current stagflation in Pakistan on the labor market and poverty. The paper presents a preliminary explanation of why the labor market and poverty impact of the current stagflation may be far smaller than projected in recent studies, especially for the rural economy. The main conclusions that emerge are that (1) The overwhelming expected negative impact of low economic growth, high double-digit inflation, and crippling energy shortages on poverty and the labor market appear to have been cushioned by the large increase in remittances, rising wages in agriculture and services, and social safety nets; (2) there is, however, no reason for complacency since over 20 million people live in absolute poverty and that the economy remains in deep stagflation, (3) the PSLM (HIES) 2010/11 data should be made publicly available so that it can be subject to more critical analysis and (4) studies on poverty should be based on a close integration of macro-sectoral–micro-factors to fully capture the underlying “poverty dynamics.”

Social Capital Activation and Job Searching: Embedding the Use of Weak Ties in the American Institutional Context

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ofer Sharone
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
White Collar ◽  
The United States ◽  
Labor Market Institutions ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Job Searching ◽  
Depth Interviews

By comparing job seekers’ use of weak ties in Israel and the United States, this article shows that Granovetter’s canonical findings are rooted in the particular institutional context of the American white-collar labor market. Drawing on in-depth interviews with three distinct groups of white-collar job seekers: Americans searching in the United States, Israelis searching in Israel, and Israelis searching in the United States, this article untangles cultural and institutional factors underlying the use of weak ties and shows how labor market institutions and processes of hiring shape systematic variations in job seekers’ utilization of weak ties.

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