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Kuang-Chi Chang

network strategy for them to decrease their reliance on kinship networks in the long run.
This can be the case particularly when other alternative job channels have become more
accessible.
Although these findings have important implications, admittedly, this research has sev-
eral limitations. The data analyses are based on a cross-sectional design. In addition, the
sample was drawn from Shanghai. The generalization of the findings is thus limited and
should not be assumed in other settings. Furthermore, the data contains only self-reports
from respondents. Without objective measures, some response bias is inevitable. Also, al-
though some studies suggest that Chinese job searchers sometimes combine networks with
other methods (Bian, 2008), only a very small number of respondents in the survey gave
multiple answers for job search methods and, consequently, I was not able to test the pos-
sibility or prevalence of using multiple or combined methods at the same time. Finally,
qualitative research that provides in-depth information about individuals’ network beha-
viors would be helpful in gaining a greater understanding of the different network strate-
gies and the decision-making behind the behavior. While rural migrants and urban natives
may both prefer to use strong ties, motivations behind their behavior may vary for differ-
ent sets of reasons. Qualitative information can also help us better evaluate the trend of an
increasingly integrated urban labor market and a growing migrant assimilation as some
researchers have claimed (Tang and Yang, 2008). These possibilities suggest a fertile
ground for future research.

Conflict of Interest and Funding
No conflict of interest has been reported by the author.

Acknowledgements

Data for this research comes from the 2008 Shanghai Health and Migration Study, jointly
sponsored by Fudan University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the University
of Utah. I thank Ming Wen and Bill Parish for their helpful comments on previous drafts
of this paper.

Ethics Statement

The study was approved by the survey and behavioral research ethics committee at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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