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Promotion, Turnover, and Discretionary Human Capital Acquisition

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  • Scoones, David
  • Bernhardt, Dan

Abstract

This article explores human capital acquisition decisions when job placement helps determine competition for a worker. With asymmetric information, workers may invest in firm-specific capital without long-term contracts. Specific investment increases promotion chances (and hence wage competition), shifting competition back to a time when firms are symmetrically uninformed. If general human capital is the efficient (output-maximizing) investment, then an equivalent firm-specific investment maximizes expected career wages. This is a general result for sellers in second-price auctions: sellers (of labor) invest to maximize the expected second-highest bidder valuation (wage), not the winner's expected valuation. Copyright 1998 by University of Chicago Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Scoones, David & Bernhardt, Dan, 1998. "Promotion, Turnover, and Discretionary Human Capital Acquisition," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 122-141, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:16:y:1998:i:1:p:122-41
    DOI: 10.1086/209884
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Tristan Potter & Dan Bernhardt, 2022. "Wage offers and on‐the‐job search," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(1), pages 74-105, February.
    2. Filipe Almeida‐Santos & Karen A. Mumford, 2004. "Employee Training in Australia: Evidence from AWIRS," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(s1), pages 53-64, September.
    3. Dato, Simon & Grunewald, Andreas & Kräkel, Matthias & Müller, Daniel, 2016. "Asymmetric employer information, promotions, and the wage policy of firms," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 273-300.
    4. Oyer, Paul & Schaefer, Scott, 2011. "Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 20, pages 1769-1823, Elsevier.
    5. Ferreira, Priscila, 2009. "The determinants of promotions and firm separations," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-11, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Bas Klaauw & António Dias da Silva, 2011. "Wage dynamics and promotions inside and between firms," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1513-1548, October.
    7. Joshua C. Pinkston, 2009. "A Model of Asymmetric Employer Learning with Testable Implications," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(1), pages 367-394.
    8. Black, J. Stewart & van Esch, Patrick, 2021. "AI-enabled recruiting in the war for talent," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 513-524.
    9. Balmaceda, Felipe, 2021. "A failure of the market for college education and on-the-job human capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Cassidy, Hugh & DeVaro, Jed & Kauhanen, Antti, 2016. "Promotion signaling, gender, and turnover: New theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 126(PA), pages 140-166.
    11. Ori Zax, 2020. "Human capital acquisition as a competitive response to the promotion distortion," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 496-509, July.
    12. Corinne Langinier & Stéphanie Lluis, 2021. "Departure And Promotion Of U.S. Patent Examiners: Do Patent Characteristics Matter?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 416-434, April.
    13. Dan Bernhardt & Steeve Mongrain, 2010. "The Layoff Rat Race," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(1), pages 185-210, March.
    14. Yijiang Wang, "undated". "Demand, Supply and Coordination: An Integrated Theory of the Division of Labor," Working Papers 0405, Human Resources and Labor Studies, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities Campus).
    15. Frazer, Garth, 2006. "Learning the master's trade: Apprenticeship and human capital in Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 259-298, December.
    16. Potter, Tristan & Bernhardt, Dan, 2019. "Wage Offers and On-the-job Search," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1201, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    17. Christian Dustmann & Sonia C. Pereira, 2008. "Wage Growth and Job Mobility in the United Kingdom and Germany," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(3), pages 374-393, April.
    18. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2373-2437 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Joshua C. Pinkston, 2012. "How Much Do Employers Learn from Referrals?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 317-341, April.
    20. Prasad, Suraj & Tran, Hien, 2013. "Work practices, incentives for skills, and training," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 66-76.

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