The Role of Individual Social Capital in Wage Determination: Evidence from China

This study examines the role of the individual level of social capital in the process of workers' wage determination in a Nash-bargaining wage model using Chinese micro-level data. We find a significant contribution of individual-specific social capital towards the wage level. In particular, larger individual social networks and workers' positive attitudes towards social capital increase the wage level significantly. Moreover, the effect of social capital on the wage level is much larger for male workers than females. Our results indicate that construction of individual social capital could increase workers' wages, while effort should be made to reduce unequal contributions of social capital between males and females.

Published: Liu, Yang, 2017. "Role of individual social capital in wage determination: Evidence from China," Asian Economic Journal, Vol. 31(3), pp. 239-252
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/asej.12122/abstract