Informal Social Relations Research Articles

Institution and land transfer contract stability: Evidence from Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Liaoning provinces in rural China

Stable transfer contracts are essential for the development of the land market. This analysis investigates the impacts of different institutions and their interactive effects on the stability of land transfer contracts in rural China. Based on a survey dataset of 833 farmers from three provinces, we demonstrate that tenure institutions have a significantly positive effect and that informal social relationships have a significantly negative effect. Additionally, rules that are relevant to village self-governance strengthen the effect of formal tenure institutions and weaken the effect of social relationships. This finding indicates that complementary and substitute interactive effects exist between these two groups of institutions.

Unraveling gender disparities in arbitrators' social networks: differential effects of centrality and tie strength on career outcomes among independent contractors

PurposeThe prevalence of independent contractors in the US workforce is growing. This research examines the social environment and career outcomes of labor and employment arbitrators, a unique profession of high-skilled and high-status independent contractors who play a significant role in facilitating organizational justice. Previous research has focused on the employment relationships that independent contractors have with hiring organizations and the characteristics of individuals who become independent contractors; however, little attention has been given to how relational factors influence the career outcomes of high-skilled independent contractors or how such influences differ by gender. Building upon theories of social networks and unequal network returns (UNR), our study investigates the informal social relationships among arbitrators, the association between interpersonal relationship patterns and arbitrators’ career success, and how these associations vary based on gender.Design/methodology/approachA social network survey is used to collect the social networks, attitudes and fee information of 407 labor and employment arbitrators working in North America. A multi-level regression analysis was used to examine the proposed relationships among social networks, gender and career outcomes of the arbitrators.FindingsWe discovered that occupying a central position within advice networks is positively associated with occupational satisfaction. On the other hand, having strong ties is associated with achieving high employment arbitration fees. Notably, we found that the advantages of strong ties for arbitration fees are comparatively weak for female arbitrators relative to their male counterparts.Originality/valueThis research examines the relationship between social networks and career outcomes for independent contractors in the unique context of arbitrators. It further highlights inequalities experienced by female arbitrators in a male-dominated profession where their social networks offer fewer rewards relative to their male counterparts.

Informal land leasing and social relations: Insights from Zimbabwe’s small scale farms

This article examines the role of social relations in enabling informal land leasing in Zimbabwe's small scale (A1 villagised) settlements after the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). After Fast Track Land Reform (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe, although some studies have explored informal land leasing, limited attention has been provided to the increasing informal subdivision in A1 villagised plots. The paper uses social relations as a basis for understanding the nature of informal land subdivisions, drawing insights from Zimbabwe’s small-scale farms in Zvimba District, Mashonaland West Province. Using qualitative insights, the article argues that in cases where land is provided through land reform, policy formulators should acknowledge the existence of these subdivisions for people with limited access to land. This article concludes that social relations enable people to access land through informal channels in resettlement areas enabling people to bypass legal policy directives through land subdivisions.

Research on performance feedback path under the influence of organizational restructuring

In diverse and changing environments, organizations often need to reorganize their teams in order to adapt to market changes, improve performance and promote innovation. Team restructuring involves the merging, realignment, or reorganization of different departments or teams, usually accompanied by reassignment of personnel, changes in roles, and new job requirements. The innovation and organizational theory literatures argue that implementing radical innovation can be facilitated or hindered by the organization’s structural design (Abraham YNahm, 2003), a process in which the integration of elements and performance feedback become crucial factors that affect the success of the team and employee satisfaction. team success and employee satisfaction. Specialization, formalization, informal social relations and link mechanisms have positive significant effects on innovation capability (Mohammad Iranmanesh, 2021) The purpose of this paper is to analyze the feedback paths of factor integration and performance outputs of reorganized teams in the hope of providing a multifactorial theoretical support for reorganized teams and finding positive feedbacks of performance outputs.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO DETECTING UNDECLATED WORK

Negative economic phenomena such as the informal labor market and informal employment in the formal sector are becoming increasingly widespread and pose a major threat to the economy as a whole and to social security in the labor market. These phenomena have the following common features: illegal employment of an employee without entering into an employment contract, which is provided for by the current legislation of Ukraine, concealment of actual working hours and payment of wages "in an envelope", substitution of actual employment contracts with civil and commercial contracts, non-payment of taxes, social insecurity and a high probability of employees being unemployed. At the same time, in the event of an injury in the informal labor market, the injured worker must spend significant funds on treatment without any compensation payments.
 The author examines the priority areas of state policy aimed at eliminating the threats of the informal labor market and the main reasons for the spread of informal employment in Ukraine, taking into account the specifics of the current state of the economy, as well as the consequences of informal social and labor relations for both the employee and the state (a significant reduction in the volume of budget revenues, as well as the share of tax revenues). The purpose of this study is to create tools for assessing the status of formalization of labor relations in Ukraine with a view to properly organizing state supervision (control) measures to identify undeclared labor relations, and to ensure uniformity of approaches for labor inspectors to assess the risks of undeclared labor by entities. A phased expert evaluation of measures to reduce production risk at an industrial enterprise with the introduction of weighting coefficients according to certain criteria is proposed. A consistent model for managing the risks of using undeclared labor has been developed, based on a component method for assessing the risk of traumatic events and a mathematical model of management decisions. This model takes into account all available information on labor relations obtained from various sources of its accumulation in the executive authorities, stimulates preventive activities and allows to establish the dependence of the level of occupational risk on the validity of labor protection measures and reduce the influence of the subjective component of expert judgments

“She’s Pretty in Her Pictures but in Real Life She’s Ugly”: School Pupils Negotiating the Blurred Boundaries between Online and Offline Social Contexts

Online social interaction has become integral to contemporary social life, adding new dimensions to how young people learn, interact, and perceive themselves and one another. We present findings from a yearlong ethnographic study within a Scottish state secondary school to explain pupils’ informal social relationships. We particularly investigate how school pupils experience social life inside and outside of school in relation to presenting themselves on social media and consider how they negotiate the overlap between their online (social media) representations and offline (school) encounters with their peers. Our findings evidence that pupils engaged in self-presentation within and across online and offline social contexts, whilst experiencing pressure to ‘keep up appearances’ between the two. The online environment afforded pupils greater control over self-presentation, especially in relation to bodily appearances. Here, pupils had time and tools to construct idealised fronts and to amass online capital. In some circumstances, this capital could have exchange value within offline environments. However, young people were at continual risk of having their carefully constructed identities discredited when in an in-person setting. We explore these issues in relation to pupil health, wellbeing, and learning, and we consider how educators may respond.

Land acquisition in rural tourism destinations: How social relations influence cooperative behaviours?

AbstractLand acquisition is becoming prevalent in most rural destinations. This study investigates the dynamic interaction process between rural residents regarding tourism‐led land acquisition and analyses how social relations influence cooperative behaviours by using social network analysis. The findings suggest that informal social relations between rural residents transmit influence and information, generating significantly positive impacts on individuals' land acquisition decisions. The multiple regression‐quadratic assignment procedure results further show that residential ties and political ties positively relate to the second land acquisition decision and that dynamic changes in formal political relations significantly facilitate the cooperative behaviour of rural residents. Our study suggests that building diverse social linkages between local governments and rural residents is conducive to promoting cooperation, shedding light on rural cooperative behaviours and sustainable tourism development.

Factors influencing quality of life among the elderly: An approach using logistic regression.

Improving the physical, psychological, and social factors in the elderly significantly increases the QoL1 among them. This study aims to identify the crucial factors for predicting QoL among the elderly using statistical methods. In this study, 980 samples related to the elderly with favorable and unfavorable QoL were investigated. The elderly's QoL was investigated using a qualitative and self-assessment questionnaire that measured the QoL among them by five Likert spectrum and independent factors. The Chi-square test and eta coefficient were used to determine the relationship between each predicting factor of the elderly's QoL in SPSS V 25 software. Finally, we used the Enter and Forward LR methods to determine the correlation of influential factors in the presence of other variables. The study showed that 20 variables gained a significant relationship with the quality of life of the elderly at P < 0.05. The study results showed that the degree of dependence (P = 0.03), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.03), formal and informal social relationships (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02), ability to play an emotional role (P = 0.03), physical performance (P = 0.01), heart diseases and arterial blood pressure (P = 0.02), and cancer (P = 0.01) have favorable predictive power in predicting the QoL among the elderly. Attempts to identify and modify the important factors affecting the elderly's QoL have a significant role in improving the QoL and life satisfaction in this age group people. This study showed that the statistical methods have a pleasant capability to discover the factors associated with the elderly's QoL with high performance in this regard.

Social Network Ties, Entrepreneurial Orientation, and Entrepreneurial Intention among University Students in Ghana

To expand the existing literature on entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intention, the current study determines the mediating role of social network ties in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intention among university students in Ghana. Data was conveniently gathered from 728 full time university students in Ghana. Structural equational modeling findings demonstrated that entrepreneurial orientation positively influenced social network ties and also positively affected entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, social network ties mediated entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intention nexus. University students should try to establish formal and informal social network relations to identify business opportunities, acquire resources in order to enhance their proclivity to start a new business.

Producing Nollywood portal films: Navigating precarity through informal social relations and hope

This article examines the production practices that underpin the production of portal films in the Nigerian video film industry (Nollywood). Following the recent surge in the number of streaming portals focusing on the distribution of Nollywood films, a nascent video on demand (VOD) market has been created. This new market has given rise to a crop of filmmakers who now produce straight-to-portal films. This article draws on semi-structured interviews with 30 industry stakeholders comprising producers, directors, writers, and streaming executives. Adopting a critical media industry studies approach, I argue that, in the face of pervasive precarity in the Nollywood VOD market, portal filmmakers adopt informal social relations and ‘hope labour’ in navigating productions and ensuring the market is sustained. The article contributes to extant research on Nollywood's production dynamics and extends existing debates about precarity in cultural industries through a less-studied context like Nollywood.

Social capital and HIV-serodiscordance: Disparities in access to personal and professional resources for HIV-positive and HIV-negative partners

As people living with HIV are living longer lives, they have a correspondingly greater opportunity to enjoy long-term romantic and sexual partnerships, including with persons who do not live with HIV (“serodiscordant” relationships). In these dyads, asymmetries may emerge in access to social resources between partners. In this paper we examined how serodiscordant couples access informal (interpersonal, such as family and friends) and formal (practitioner, such as doctor or social worker) social resources for health. We recruited 540 participants in current serodiscordant relationships, working with 150 AIDS service organizations and HIV clinics across Canada from 2016 to 2018. Our findings demonstrate that partners with HIV have greater access to formal resources than their partners (through health care professionals, therapists/counselors/support workers), while both persons have similar access to resources through informal social relationships (family and friends). Furthermore, the findings indicated that HIV positive partners accessed more varied forms of support through formal ties, compared to HIV negative persons. We offer recommendations for changes to how HIV-negative partners in a serodiscordant relationship are served and cared for, and particularly, the importance of moving toward dyad-focused policies and practices.

Social networks, perceived social support, and HbA1c in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus in urban Ghana

ABSTRACT Objectives: Although links between social relationships and health are well established, few studies have concurrently examined the effects of compositional, structural, and functional dimensions of social networks on glycemic (HbA1c) control in low- and middle-income countries such as Ghana. In these settings where informal social relationships are critical for access to resources, evaluating the links between social network characteristics, social support, and glycemic control may provide clarity about important relationships that facilitate the well-being of individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Design: In 2018, we conducted a hospital-based, cross-sectional survey of noninstitutionalized adults with T2DM in Ghana. Using data from 247 study participants, multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate associations between: 1) HbA1c and three social network characteristics (kin composition, household composition, and network density); 2) social support and the three social network characteristics; and 3) HbA1c and social support. We also examined gender differences in these associations and applied mediation techniques to determine if network characteristics operated through social support to affect HbA1c. Results: Findings indicated that higher kin composition and higher household composition were each significantly associated with increased social support. Neither social support nor social network characteristics were significantly related to HbA1c, and there were no gender differences in any of these associations. Conclusion: Although family and household members were identified as important sources of social support for diabetes management, the ways in which they influence HbA1c control among Ghanaians require further investigation. Future studies can examine whether changes in social support over time, social support satisfaction, or other dimensions of social relationships improve T2DM outcomes in countries like Ghana.

Hierarchical Inconsistency: A Monitoring Mechanism to Reduce Securities Fraud in Emerging Markets

Research has indicated limited effects of formal governance measures on securities fraud prevention in emerging markets due to the weak rule of law. We propose that hierarchical inconsistency, misaligned rank ordering in formal organizational and informal social hierarchies of the corporate elite, can provide a novel monitoring mechanism to reduce securities fraud. Leaders at the top of the two inconsistent hierarchies can feel distressed and motivated to engage in contestation and challenge each other’s authority, thus providing checks and balances and preventing groupthink. This monitoring effect is likely to be stronger when either of the two heads has dominant and unequivocal superiority in their respective hierarchy, making them particularly distressed by the hierarchical inconsistency and prone to contest. We test our argument in the context of publicly listed family-controlled firms in China, where business and family hierarchies may confer superiority to different individuals. Our study contributes to the corporate securities fraud literature by understanding how formal organizational structures and informal social relationships interact and jointly influence governance effectiveness in emerging markets.Funding: This work was supported by the Strategic Management Society [2015 SRF Dissertation Research Grant], Rudolf and Valeria Maag research funds, and INSEAD alumni funds.

Commensality and Individual Eating: Mediating Social Relationships during Work Breaks

Based on an analysis of eating during work hours, this article looks at the issue of maintaining informal social relations. Various forms of the gathering together of individuals are important in the maintenance of social relations. Very often, casual or leisure-time gatherings, whether they are to mark an important event or celebration, or are just a coffee or lunch break during work hours, involve eating or drinking. However, colleagues and co-workers do not always eat at the same time, especially regarding day-to-day eating during work hours. In this paper, the focus is on the relative importance of eating alone or eating in a group when researching the maintenance of informal relations. The first objective of this research is to clarify the social aspects in research on eating and to survey the scientific literature on commensality and eating alone. Second the paper looks at how eating in a group as opposed to individual eating are expressed as part of the daily eating routine with ones co-workers. By going through these objectives, the question is raised – how would ways of maintaining informal relations change if there an ever greater number of co-workers decided to eat alone?

Communitarian norms and employee performance management in Africa

PurposeThe paper aims to critically evaluate the day-to-day processes of employee performance management and control (EPMC) in an African-based organization and sheds light on formal and informal management controls, social relations and worker responses.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on research undertaken within an Ugandan-based agricultural research organization. A case study approach was used to facilitate an understanding of everyday organizational practices and context. The paper uses ethnographic research and grounded theory, with methods including interviews and observation of work practices.FindingsThe findings provide a nuanced understanding of how performance management and control plays out in practice and show that the unquestioning imposition of Western practices that ignore traditional norms is unlikely to result in desired outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsSince the paper took on a cross-sectional study, a longitudinal study might reveal whether and how the values of managers and employees in Africa-based organizations change over time.Practical implicationsThe study's findings indicate the need for a more critical examination of EPMC that takes account of employee attitudes, behaviors and social relations at the intersection of both the formal and informal organization.Originality/valueAlthough cultural and institutional approaches have been used to evaluate human resource management (HRM) practices in Africa, organizational behavior approaches to performance and control at the micro-level had been underexplored.

Climate change co-sponsorship networks in South Korea: focusing on formal and informal ties of legislators

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the formation of climate change co-sponsorship networks among South Korean legislators from the 18th to the 20th National Assembly and provides a comprehensive understanding of the interdependent co-sponsorship behaviour to address climate change at the domestic level. Legislators’ formal ties are defined by their political party membership whereas informal ties are defined by other shared characteristics such as re-election status as well as regional (jiyon) and education-based (hakyon) ties. While it has been commonly viewed that Korean climate politics did not experience major conflicts between political parties, this study observes that Korean legislators demonstrate strong party homophily in their climate change co-sponsorship networks. This study also finds that rational legislators are influenced by their informal social relations. More experienced legislators tend to be less engaged in co-sponsorship activities and legislators from the politically sensitive regions are more likely to form co-sponsorship ties among themselves.

Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation and operational performance: influence of informal social relations in environmental competitiveness

Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation and operational performance: influence of informal social relations in environmental competitiveness

Why is telerehabilitation necessary? A pre-post COVID-19 comparative study of ICF activity and participation

PurposeThis study aims to evaluate the relevance of telerehabilitation during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the prevalence of participation and activity International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains in a population with disabilities.Design/methodology/approachWe perfomed an observational study of ICF files of people with disabilities pre- and post-three-months lockdown imposed by the government to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsICF qualifiers such as performing the daily routine (d230), using communication devices and techniques (d360) and doing housework (d640) showed a significant decrease of the disabilities (p < 0.05). Instead, a significant increase (p < 0.05) in disability was evident in relating with strangers (d730); informal social relationships (d750); acquiring, keeping and terminating a job (d845); complex economic transactions (d865); community life (d910); and recreation and leisure (d920).Practical implicationsTelerehabilitation should not be regarded as home-based rehabilitation delivered through technology. The results show how telerehabilitation should be a functional diagnostic tool and monitoring of patients’ rehabilitation needs.Originality/valueThrough a comprehensive classification scale of disability, it is possible to redefine the term telerehabilitation.

The Anatomy of Neighbour Relations

Relations between neighbours represent informal social relations that constitute a part of everyday life for virtually all individuals in contemporary urban societies. While aspects of neighbour relations have been studied in connection with research on local communities, gentrification, and neighbourhood effects, little research focusing specifically on interactions between neighbours has been conducted and theoretical reflection on the central concepts remains lacking. This article attempts to fill this research gap by developing a theoretical framework for the sociological understanding and investigation of neighbour relations. The research material used consists of previous studies on neighbour relations. The method for the task was analysis of concepts coupled with theoretical reasoning based on a review and a synthesis of relevant previous research. Familiar concepts like ‘neighbour’, ‘neighbouring’, and ‘neighbourliness’ are scrutinised, deconstructed, and redefined, noting that there are often two perspectives on each: the experiences of residents and those of outside observers. Various sociological aspects of neighbour relations are discussed, including neighbour relations as an acquaintance relation, neighbour relations as the basis of a community, and the cultural content of the neighbour role. A model of levels of neighbourly interaction is presented.

The impact of social capital-based selection practices on talent management: evidence from telecom MNCs in Bangladesh

The purpose of this paper is to explore how social capital-based selection practices influence talent management (TM) in multinational companies (MNC). To date, little is known about how this relationship fulfills business priorities. The study collected empirical data through in-depth interviews with 12 managers from three telecommunication firms in Bangladesh. Our study found a significant influence of social capital-based selection practices on TM. We found that the relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital were the major drivers of selection practices that influenced a talent search process. Trust and cultural norms especially within networking relationships through shared narratives, codes and language, and vision affected TM involving selection practices. Therefore, the role of existing human resource management (HRM) system for selection practices was found inadequate without the integration of social capital. We report that upper-level managers have the capability to shape and implement a TM system that benefits candidates with network ties of informal social relationships, which consequently marginalized formal HRM practices. HRM system is only an administrative function alongside the dominant social capital-based TM selection practices. For practical implications, upper-level managers used social capital-based selection practices beyond HRM systems that were deemed pragmatic in selecting the right candidates for positions in organizations favoring intra-group homogeneity.