Recent research has pointed to pipelines, or sequenced hiring of individuals from the same source organizations over time, as a common practice employed by firms to reduce labor market imperfections and create human capital resource advantages. We extend this literature by considering how pipelines may emerge not just out of strategic intent but also out of informal social processes reflecting network transitivity and homophily. Using bipartite social network analysis techniques in a sample of 110 public U.S. electronics component manufacturers, we argue and find evidence for transitive effects between firms’ employee-based ties to elite educational institutions and the formation of interfirm employee pipelines. We demonstrate that pipelines are more likely to form between firms that both hire educational elites, especially when those firms share ties to the same elite schools and when those shared elite schools are executives’ alma mater(s). We also find that these effects tend to be more pronounced when the focal firm has higher growth potential, encouraging mobility by attracting potential elite candidates and facilitating the two-way matching process in labor markets. Our theory and findings contribute to a better understanding of informal processes underlying pipeline formation and specifically demonstrate how hiring tendencies may lead to closed recruiting networks characterized by elite replication.

最近的研究指出，随着时间的推移，管道或从同一来源组织中按顺序雇用个人，是公司为减少劳动力市场不完善和创造人力资本资源优势而采用的一种常见做法。我们通过考虑管道如何不仅出于战略意图，而且出于反映网络传递性和同质性的非正式社会过程如何出现来扩展该文献。我们在 110 家美国公共电子元件制造商的样本中使用双向社交网络分析技术，论证并发现公司与精英教育机构的员工关系与公司间员工管道形成之间的传递效应的证据。我们证明，在雇佣教育精英的公司之间更有可能形成管道，尤其是当这些公司与同一所精英学校有联系并且这些共享的精英学校是高管的母校时。我们还发现，当焦点公司具有更高的增长潜力、通过吸引潜在的精英候选人和促进劳动力市场的双向匹配过程来鼓励流动性时，这些影响往往更加明显。我们的理论和研究结果有助于更好地理解潜在管道形成的非正式过程，并具体展示招聘趋势如何导致以精英复制为特征的封闭招聘网络。通过吸引潜在的精英候选人和促进劳动力市场的双向匹配过程来鼓励流动。我们的理论和研究结果有助于更好地理解潜在管道形成的非正式过程，并具体展示招聘趋势如何导致以精英复制为特征的封闭招聘网络。通过吸引潜在的精英候选人和促进劳动力市场的双向匹配过程来鼓励流动。我们的理论和研究结果有助于更好地理解潜在管道形成的非正式过程，并具体展示招聘趋势如何导致以精英复制为特征的封闭招聘网络。