Comparative advantage, learning, and sectoral wage determination

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gibbons, R; Katz, LF; Lemieux, T; Parent, D
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; Harvard University; University of British Columbia; McGill University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/491606
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 681-723
• 关键词: self-selection; variables; MODEL

摘要

We develop a model in which a worker's skills determine the worker's current wage and sector. The market and the worker are initially uncertain about some of the worker's skills. Endogenous wage changes and sector mobility occur as labor market participants learn about these unobserved skills. We show how the model can be estimated using nonlinear instrumental variables techniques. We apply our methodology to study wages and allocation of workers across occupations and industries using individual-level panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. We find that high-wage sectors employ high-skill workers and offer high returns to workers' skills.