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Continuing Education, Job Training, and the Growth of Earnings Inequality

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  • Dave E. Marcotte

Abstract

Although it is well established that changes in the value of formal education can partly explain the increase in earnings inequality in the United States during the past three decades, less attention has been paid to the possible role of post-school training. Using data from cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys, the author finds that young men entering the labor market beginning in the late 1960s and those entering in the early 1980s differed little in the average incidence of training or earnings premiums associated with training, but further analysis shows that shifts in training favoring more educated workers can account for more than 40% of the observed increase in college-high school earnings differences among young men. Changing patterns of continuing learning do not, however, help explain the growth in earnings differences within equally educated groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Dave E. Marcotte, 2000. "Continuing Education, Job Training, and the Growth of Earnings Inequality," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(4), pages 602-623, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:53:y:2000:i:4:p:602-623
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390005300403
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    1. Joseph G. Altonji & James R. Spletzer, 1991. "Worker Characteristics, Job Characteristics, and the Receipt of On-the-Job Training," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(1), pages 58-79, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sauermann, Jan & Stenberg, Anders, 2020. "Assessing Selection Bias in Non-Experimental Estimates of the Returns to Workplace Training," IZA Discussion Papers 13789, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2012. "A closer look at nonparticipants during and after the Great Recession," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2012-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    3. Carla Haelermans & Lex Borghans, 2012. "Wage Effects of On-the-Job Training: A Meta-Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(3), pages 502-528, September.
    4. Saïd Hanchane & Jacques Silber, 2004. "On the Link Between On-the-Job Training and Earnings' Dispersion," Working Papers halshs-00010143, HAL.
    5. Daniel Rodriguez & Madeline Zavodny, 2003. "Changes in the Age and Education Profile of Displaced Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(3), pages 498-510, April.

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