Social capital and civic participation in particular are thought to be in decline across the United States, (Putnam 2000) and ethnic diversity and migration tend to reduce social capital (Putnam 2007). It could play a significant role for the foreign born in a variety of socioeconomic outcomes including wages. Social capital is clearly important in the migratory process (Massey, Goldring et al. 1994; Marcelli and Cornelius 2001), but some debate exists regarding its ability to provide a benefit in the labor market (Aguilera and Massey 2003; Mouw 2003). Women and men experience the labor market differently with more men participating in the formal labor market and earning higher wages because of many factors including discrimination, occupational segregation, and longer and less interrupted work histories (Ehrenberg and Smith 2003). Social capital appears to benefit women in many areas but not in employment and earnings (Caiazza and Putnam 2005). In light of these concerns, we test our hypotheses by analyzing models for women and men separately.
Three hypotheses guide this investigation of network social capital--both reciprocal exchange and participation in civic organizations--on the wages of Mexican men and women in Los Angeles County.
Hypothesis 1
: Participation in civic organizations, one form of network social capital, provides access to information and resources that augment Mexican migrants’ wages, while reciprocal social network exchange does not.
Attending meetings of civic organizations may provide an economic benefit as migrants obtain access to information and resources that could help them find employment with better wages. However, low-income individuals like other groups in the United States have been attending fewer meetings during the last quarter of the twentieth century, as the average number of meetings attended for the poorest third of the population declined from nine to four (Putnam 2000). The mechanism through which network social capital is transferred through participation in civic meetings is not clearly understood. Social networks frequently consist of homogenous individuals (McPherson and Smith-Lovin 1982) and may not provide access to a range of information necessary for a successful job search for a low-income migrant population. In contrast, attending meetings of civic organizations is thought to provide an opportunity to gain exposure to information and resources that otherwise might not be available in migrants’ immediate social networks (Putnam 2000). Organizational membership is not necessarily selective because many organizations desire to expand their membership base. Individuals, therefore, possibly meet a variety of people that they might not be exposed to in their regular social network interactions. These “other” individuals would more likely possess non-redundant information because of their different access to information in their various network connections. For example, even though religious organizations are frequently segregated by race, they have a more diverse membership in regards to income. This membership diversity might assist lower income migrants in finding jobs with higher wages.
Putnam’s research (1993) on the economic benefit of stocks of social capital in explaining economic growth in Italy suggests that social capital could play an important role in a number of economic indicators including wage growth. Evidence supports this claim for an unauthorized migrant population. Aguilera and Massey (2003) find that social capital is positively associated with the earnings of authorized and unauthorized Mexican men. They measure social network participation by a person’s interaction with people and institutions. This includes participating in sports organizations or belonging to social organizations, and this measure of social capital is positively associated with undocumented Mexican men’s wages. They also measure social capital by family and friendship tie and find that far family ties and friendship ties are positively associated with unauthorized men’s wages. Thus, network social capital that unauthorized Mexican men develop by attending meetings of civic organizations is expected to provide access to information and resources that leads to jobs that offer higher wages.
Hypothesis 2: Network social capital works differently in the labor market for men and women. Mexican men benefit from both forms of network social capital--civic participation and network reciprocity--in earning higher wages, while women do not receive the same benefit.
Social capital appears to be accumulated in the neighborhood and at work for Mexican migrants, and men accumulate more social capital than women through reciprocal social network exchange (Granberry and Marcelli 2007). Some debate exists about women’s ability to use social networks to provide higher wages. Social networks traditionally have been thought to benefit males more than females (Lin 2000b); however, Aguilera (2008) finds that women receive a wage premium from social network participation, while men do not. Women who use a close family member or friend to find employment earn higher wages, but this is not the case for Latina women.
In general, women have more family members in their social network, while men appear to develop more relationships outside the family and neighborhood that include more coworkers, (Moore 1990; Sassen 1995). Women develop closer network relationships that might influence their social capital accumulation. Stack’s (1974) ethnographic work with low-income black families illuminates how women develop strong ties with other women in their community to provide support for their families. These strong ties are important in developing informal support structures to manage their household economy. Williams and Windebank’s (2006) research in the United Kingdom supports these findings as low wages in the informal labor market are reflective of women’s willingness to work for kin, friends, or neighbors. In addition to economic and social support, these strong ties may provide access to redundant information and resources that do not assist low-income individuals’ access to new labor market opportunities. Participation in networks with weak ties are beneficial because weak ties provide access to non-redundant information and resources that are important in job searches (Granovetter 1974). Low-income women’s focus on providing support for their families that foster dependence on strong ties may have an unintended negative consequence of limiting their access to important information and resources necessary for success in the formal labor market.
Network social capital accumulated through reciprocal exchange could inadvertently trap migrants, especially women, in social networks that provide redundant information that limits their access to information and resources, especially for labor market participation. Social capital is shaped by social network quality, and Mexican migrants who have lower SES have social network members with similar economic characteristics, who cannot help them fare better in the labor market (Mouw 2003). This negative characteristic of network social capital could be more pronounced for women. Smith (2000) investigates the use of personal contacts in a job search and finds that social capital provides a wage penalty for Latina women even when they use weak ties to find employment. Thus, the network social capital that unauthorized Mexican women develop through social network reciprocity and by attending meetings of civic organizations is not expected to provide access to information and resources that leads to jobs that offer higher wages.
Hypothesis 3: Because of social inequality, both forms of network social capital are unable to mediate negative institutional forces (e.g., segmented labor market, unauthorized immigration, family care giving roles) that reduce Mexican migrants’ wages.
Social inequalities shape social capital accumulation and limit network social capital’s potential to provide economic benefits for individuals in disadvantaged neighborhoods (Lin 2000a). The embedded strengths and weaknesses of the community influence network social capital that is accumulated in social relationships and from membership in civic organizations. This institutional support can drift away from vulnerable populations as it did when middle income individuals left the inner city for the suburbs (Wilson 1987). Even when it is present, it is not easily transferred for a migrant community. Ethnic enclaves are important for support in personal, cultural, and economic domains, but this support comes with unwanted restrictions. The costs of community solidarity that promotes closure in family and community relationships could outweigh the benefits provided because of limitations resulting from exclusion of outsiders, restriction of personal freedom, and excessive claims on group members (Portes and Sensenbrenner 1993; Portes 1998). This focus on social closure could be even more difficult for women to navigate because as they are exposed to new social freedoms in the United States, they still experience traditional expectations on how to contribute to the household economy.
When migrants strive to strengthen their social network relationships, institutional forces loom large as social capital accumulated through truncated social networks is influenced by the lower SES of the network members. These social networks fail to provide information about jobs or how to prepare individuals to enter the labor market (Fernandez-Kelly 1995). In addition, influences from macro issues like occupational segregation (Piore 1979) sort Mexican migrants into low-wage jobs with little chance of upward career mobility(Catanzarite 2000; Cobb-Clark and Kossoudji 2000). Livingston’s (2006) research suggests that Mexican women who reside longer in the United States are able to use their social capital to secure employment, but the segmented labor market looms large in limiting their career mobility. In addition, family and ethnic ties limit labor market outcomes for unauthorized Latina migrants by the types of jobs they access, and the household responsibilities expected of them (Menjivar 1999; Smith 2000).
Women face care giving responsibilities that flow from a historic division of unpaid household labor that could limit their ability to develop the necessary social network relationships to provide access to better paying jobs. Women spend more time out of the labor market because of family responsibilities, and women with children receive a wage penalty compared to women without children (Waldfogel 1997; Ehrenberg and Smith 2003). Some women may participate in formal organizations in hopes of maximizing the benefits of the social capital they accumulate to find better paying jobs, and Latina mothers are more likely to provide volunteer service in poor neighborhoods (Casciano 2007). However, these community responsibilities may limit their ability to gain success in the labor market. Facing this institutional hurdle, some women direct their attention to informal local networks to find support. These networks have important social support resources but limited economic resources that can be transferred through reciprocal exchange or civic participation (Agarwal 2000; Lowndes 2004; Westermann, Ashby et al. 2005). In light of these problems, Molyneux (2002) questions social capital’s efficacy for women because of the inherent residue from structural inequalities based on years of traditional household practices.
Unauthorized immigration status is another institution in the United States that shapes wages (Marcelli 2004). Unauthorized status appears to be negatively associated with Mexican migrant wages, though some debate exists in the literature. Recent research by Rivera-Batiz (1999), Kossoudji and Cobb-Clark (2002), and Marcelli (2004) consistently finds that unauthorized status carries a wage penalty for Mexican men. However, Massey (1987) finds that unauthorized status carries no wage penalty. This difference may be explained by stricter enforcement of immigration laws post Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 (Donato, Aguilera et al. 2005). In regards to gender, Aguilera (2004) finds that legalization through IRCA benefited women, and Cobb-Clark and Kossoudji (2000) report a wage penalty for unauthorized Mexican women. In addition, unauthorized immigration status and social capital have a combined negative influence resulting from the bounded solidarity of community ties that initially make an employment connection. Formally undocumented workers have longer job tenure and accept the “golden handcuffs” of a present job, instead of actively searching for a job with better wages (Aguilera 2003). Thus, network social capital that unauthorized Mexican migrants develop by attending meetings of civic organizations and reciprocal social network relationships is not expected to mediate negative institutional forces.
WORKS CITED
Gray, Jerry and Richard Chapman. 2004. “The Significance of Segmentation for Institutionalist Theory and Public Policy,” In Dell P. Champlin and Janet T. Knoedler, Eds., The Institutionalist Tradition in Labor Economics. New York, NY: M. E. Sharpe, pp. 117-130.
Putnam, Robert. (2007) “E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century,” Scandinavian Political Studies. 30(2): 137-174.
Putnam, Robert. (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, Simon & Shuster.
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