Research

My research interests include economic sociology, social networks, organizations, labor market, and inequality. My dissertation examines the contingencies for social networks to be effective in the labor market in mediating the match between workers and employers. I evaluate both the supply side and demand side of the story, but pay special attention on the hiring process as employers’ behavior and strategy have profound impact on the functioning of social networks and yet have been under-research so far. My findings show that employers’ goals (i.e. in recruiting trustworthy and easy-to-control employees) provide strong motivation for the reliance on social networks. My other research includes a study of institutional change in the Japanese youth labor market with Mary Brinton, a study of rent destruction in the US labor market with Steve Morgan, and work in progress with Victor Nee on entrepreneurship.