jing shen - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by jing shen

Social Networks, 2018

This study identifies three groups of job seekers in terms of the channels used to search for job... more This study identifies three groups of job seekers in terms of the channels used to search for jobs: the formal channel involving only official procedures to obtain a job, the informal channel using only social contacts to obtain a job, and the joint channel leveraging both social contacts and official procedures. The analysis of a national sample survey of China shows that joint channel users, due to their relatively higher level of social capital, not only make more job search attempts but also obtain higher income than formal channel users. Meanwhile, joint channel users, because of their relative advantages in both human capital and social capital, not only make more job attempts but also obtain higher income than informal channel users. The two comparisons offer a new strategy to test the causal role social capital plays in labour market success, regardless of whether social capital is exogenous or endogenous to human capital.

Studies of Transition States and Societies, 2018

In this study, we examined the effect of contact use on the gender earnings gap in urban China, b... more In this study, we examined the effect of contact use on the gender earnings gap in urban China, by taking into account the existence of self-selection effect. We theorised two sources of individuals’ self-selected job obtainment behaviour; namely, the structuralised gender-segregated employment environment and one’s internalisation of the structural constraints. Based on data collected from the highly marketized Chinese city Xiamen, our estimations from the Endogenous Switching Regression model show that there is indeed a significant tendency, in which women with marketable qualifications use social contacts to find jobs, even though their obtained income would have increased significantly had they chosen not to rely on contacts to find jobs. Men enjoyed premiums from their job search strategies, whether they relied on contact use or not.

European Societies, 2020

Despite numerous studies that have demonstrated widening social inequalities during the COVID-19 ... more Despite numerous studies that have demonstrated widening social inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not yet see research on whether the surge in social inequalities would also have unequal consequences for people's subjective experience. By linking the countrywide Understanding Society COVID-19 longitudinal survey with the latest wave of the main-stage survey, we examine whether and how the psychological costs of economic lockdowns are unevenly distributed between UK-born and foreign-born working men. Findings provide direct evidence for a widening gap in mental well-being resulting from the widening socioeconomic gap between immigrant and native-born working men, during COVID-19 lockdowns. Employment disruption does not necessarily hurt mental well-being of the native-born, as long as their income is protected. For immigrants, however, work hour reduction is generally accompanied by psychological costs, with greater mental suffering among immigrant men who experience work hour reduction without income protectionparticularly in the extreme scenario of reduction to no work hours.

Acta Sociologica, 2019

With a focus on the immigrant population, this study examines how the association between a relat... more With a focus on the immigrant population, this study examines how the association between a relative income position and life satisfaction varies when the comparison group changes. Drawing data from Understanding Society in the UK between 2009 and 2015, this study first shows that after migration, income comparisons with the mainstream and co-ethnic groups in the host country matter more than that with the source-country population for one’s life satisfaction. Furthermore, the relevance of comparison groups to life satisfaction varies across immigrant generations. Income comparison with the source-country population is more relevant to life satisfaction of the 1st generation, whereas 1.5 and 2nd generations consider income comparisons within the host country more relevant. In particular, favourable income comparison with the mainstream group in the host country is the most relevant to life satisfaction of the 2nd-generation, followed by the 1.5-generation, and last by the 1st-genera...

Frontiers in Sociology, 2019

By drawing data from the European Social Survey (ESS) (2008-2016), this study explores how immigr... more By drawing data from the European Social Survey (ESS) (2008-2016), this study explores how immigrants' assessments of economy, democracy, and quality of public goods (such as health and education systems) in the receiving societies contribute to their life satisfaction. Results indicate that satisfaction with the economy is the strongest correlate of individual life satisfaction among European immigrants, and this association is particularly pronounced among immigrants from Turkey, Eastern and Southern Europe. Assuming that immigrants compare institutions of their host and home countries when assessing institutional features of the host countries, relative gains in satisfaction with the performance of host-country economy are shown to be associated with particularly higher levels of overall life satisfaction among immigrants from Turkey, Eastern and Southern European countries than the rest of Europe. We conclude that, in relative terms, migrants from countries with less well-functioning economies to countries with more favorable economic conditions display higher levels of perceived satisfaction with the host country economies, which contributes considerably to their overall life satisfaction.

Urban Studies Research, 2014

Neighborhood income and social capital are considered important for child development, but social... more Neighborhood income and social capital are considered important for child development, but social capital has rarely been measured directly at an aggregate level. We used Canadian data to derive measures of social capital from aggregated parental judgments of neighborhood collective efficacy and neighborhood safety. Measures of neighborhood income came from Census data. Direct measures of preschoolers’ school readiness were predicted from neighborhood-level variables, with regional indicators and household/parental characteristics taken into account. Our findings show that (1) residing in Quebec, being Black, and having a parent who was born outside Canada are positively associated with children’s living in disadvantaged or low collective efficacy neighborhoods as well as with their living in low-income households. (2) Children’s odds of residential mobility were reduced when the origin neighborhood had higher collective efficacy but increased when the family rented rather than owne...

The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 2017

By using qualitative data collected in three representative Chinese cities and quantitative data ... more By using qualitative data collected in three representative Chinese cities and quantitative data from a countrywide survey, in this study, we synthesized the conventionally competing arguments from the state-centred and market-centred approaches. We showed the flow of elite resources, such as education, party membership, and family background, among three groups of job seekers-namely, job-assignment adherents, job-assignment networkers, and market adventurers, over time and across regions. With a focus on job seekers' responses to the varying local employment, we showed strong evidence for the coexistence of state power and the market in China's transitional context.

The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 2015

This study highlights the necessity of distinguishing the use of the formal-informal joint channe... more This study highlights the necessity of distinguishing the use of the formal-informal joint channel from the sole reliance on either the formal or informal job search channel. I first used interview data collected in three Chinese cities as well as ethnographic case studies in the existing literature to illustrate a typology of the distribution of job search behavior, by focusing on the match between individual qualifications and employers' hiring requirements. Based on data drawn from the 2003 China General Social Survey, the subsequent quantitative analysis confirms that neither the formal nor the informal job search channel dominates individual job search behaviors in practice. Rather, the formal-informal joint channel is used most frequently. Quantitative findings also show that competitive individual job seekers who possess both certifiable and non-certifiable qualifications are more likely to jointly use formal and informal job search methods. This study confirms that contact use plays a positive role in job searches, but very often in combination with the use of formal job search methods, rather than being used alone.

In this review article, I focus on the changing trends and main explanations of gender wage inequ... more In this review article, I focus on the changing trends and main explanations of gender wage inequality in the United States. First, I briefly describe the most prominent trends in gender wage inequality since the end of the 1970s. I then summarize theoretical explanations of these trends at both the individual level and the structural level. At the individual level, neoclassical human capital theory highlights the sharp increase in women’s educational attainment as the reason for the narrowing trend in the gender pay gap, while using the gender differences in educational and work experience to explain the persistence of this gap. An emerging debate about the human capital explanation is whether the observed gender disparities in educational and work experiences are the result of individuals’ personal choices or the consequences of social construction. I subsequently numerate three main sociological theories—gendered socialization, statistical discrimination, and social capital—to sh...

Frontiers in Sociology, 2020

Driven by the ongoing debate of job loss vs. income loss in understanding the detrimental effect ... more Driven by the ongoing debate of job loss vs. income loss in understanding the detrimental effect of unemployment, this study examines how perceptions of unemployment and the resulting levels of life satisfaction differ by immigration status. Based on a countrywide longitudinal dataset in the UK, findings show that immigrant men's life satisfaction suffers more from the detrimental effect of job loss per se, whereas that of native-born men suffers more in the pecuniary respect, which is mainly driven by perceived financial strain, instead of objective income loss. By further examining the heterogeneity among immigrant men themselves, we find similar differences between recent non-EU immigrant men and the rest of the group. While job loss causes a deeper decline in life satisfaction for recent non-EU immigrant men, income loss causes a deeper decline in life satisfaction for recent EU and established immigrant men. We attribute those differences to the extent to which one's legal status in the country is vulnerable to unemployment.

Frontiers in Sociology , 2021

In this study we aim to show distinctive patterns of the association between body weight and life... more In this study we aim to show distinctive patterns of the association between body weight and life satisfaction for adolescent boys and girls, respectively. We understand such patterns by bringing multiple mediating factors into one theoretical framework centred on normative perceptions. By drawing data from the first wave of the CILS4EU that captures 14-15-year-olds in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, findings show that psychological factors, indicated by self-esteem and mental state, explain the association between BMI and life dissatisfaction substantially, for both boys and girls. Relationships with parents (particularly among boys) and relationships with peers (particularly among girls) also play significant roles. Moreover, the association between being underweight and life satisfaction among girls varies across ethno-racial groups. Girls originating from Eastern Europe have a tendency to gain more life satisfaction when being underweight, whereas girls rooted in Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean countries display consistently low levels of life satisfaction when being underweight.