Abstract: Little attention is paid to the employment choices of the migrant workers by the academic circles. This paper applies the prospect theory and the social capital theory to analyze the job choosing behaviors of the migrant workers. The theoretical analysis indicates that the degree of industrial risks and the quality of social network can determine the job choices of the individual migrant worker. It then employs the logit model to analyze empirically the influence of employment risks and social capital on the sector choices of the migrant workers. The results show that employment risk is an important factor affecting the employment sector choices. The traditional networks, such as relatives, friends and neighbors, have a positive impact on the employment choice behaviors of the migrant workers. However, because the quality of the network is not good enough, the traditional network that the migrant workers rely on is of little help in assisting their professional upward moving.

Key words: employment risk; social capital; employment choice; migrant workers