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Age and Individual Productivity: A Literature Survey

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Author Info
Vegard Skirbekk
Abstract

This article surveys supervisors’ ratings, analyses of piece-rates and employer-employee datasets as well as other approaches used to estimate how individual productivity varies with age. The causes of productivity variations over the life cycle are addressed with an emphasis on howcognitive abilities affect labour market performance. Earnings tend to increase until relative late in the working life, while most evidence suggests that individuals’job performance tends to increase in the first few years of one’s entry into the labour market, before it stabilises and often decreases towards the end of one’s career. Productivity reductions at older ages are particularly strong when problem solving, learning and speed are important, while older individuals maintain a relatively high productivity level in work tasks where experience and verbal abilities matter more.

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File URL: http://hw.oeaw.ac.at/0xc1aa500d_0x00062025
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna in its journal Vienna Yearbook of Population Research.

Volume (Year): 1 (2004)
Issue (Month): 1 ()
Pages: 133-153
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:vid:yearbk:v:1:y:2004:i:1:p:133-153

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Web page: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Lazear, E.P., 1988. "Adjusting To An Aging Labor Force," Papers e-88-34, Stanford - Hoover Institution.
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  2. Harris, Milton & Holstrom, Bengt, 1982. "A Theory of Wage Dynamics," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(3), pages 315-33, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Bernt Bratsberg & James F. Ragan & Jr & John T. Warren, 2003. "Negative returns to seniority: New evidence in academic markets," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 56(2), pages 306-323, January.
  4. Daniel Rodriguez & Madeline Zavodny, 2003. "Changes in the age and education profile of displaced workers," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 56(3), pages 498-510, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. John C. Haltiwanger & Julia I. Lane & James R. Spletzer, 1999. "Productivity Differences across Employers: The Roles of Employer Size, Age, and Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 94-98, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Medoff, James L & Abraham, Katharine G, 1980. "Experience, Performance, and Earnings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 703-36, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. David Autor & Frank Levy & Richard Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Ahituv, Avner & Zeira, Joseph, 2000. "Technical Progress and Early Retirement," CEPR Discussion Papers 2614, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & Frank Levy, 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination," NBER Working Papers 5076, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Bartel, Ann P & Sicherman, Nachum, 1993. "Technological Change and Retirement Decisions of Older Workers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 162-83, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Janet Currie & Duncan Thomas, 1999. "Early Test Scores, Socioeconomic Status and Future Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 6943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark & Kenneth R. Troske, 1996. "Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions and Wage Equations," NBER Working Papers 5626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Mika Maliranta & Jari Vainiomaki, 2000. "The Roles of Employer and Employee Characteristics for Plant Productivity," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1349, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  14. Lazear, Edward P & Moore, Robert L, 1984. "Incentives, Productivity, and Labor Contracts," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 99(2), pages 275-96, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Hutchens, Robert M, 1989. "Seniority, Wages and Productivity: A Turbulent Decade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 49-64, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Abowd, John M. & Kramarz, Francis, 1999. "The analysis of labor markets using matched employer-employee data," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 40, pages 2629-2710 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Lazear, Edward P, 1979. "Why Is There Mandatory Retirement?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1261-84, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-42, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Boissiere, M & Knight, J B & Sabot, R H, 1985. "Earnings, Schooling, Ability, and Cognitive Skills," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(5), pages 1016-30, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jochen Michaelis & Martin Debus, 2009. "Wage and (Un-)Employment Effects of an Ageing Workforce," MAGKS Papers on Economics 200921, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung). [Downloadable!]
  2. Andrea Ichino & Guido Schwerdt & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Josef Zweimüller, 2007. "Too Old to Work, Too Young to Retire?," IZA Discussion Papers 3110, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Benoit Dostie & Pierre Thomas Léger, 2008. "Une analyse des déterminants de l’incidence et de l’intensité de la formation des travailleurs québécois selon l’âge et comparaison avec l’Ontario," CIRANO Working Papers 2008s-23, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  4. Graf, Nikolaus & Hofer, Helmut & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2009. "Labour Supply Effects of a Subsidised Old-Age Part-Time Scheme in Austria," IZA Discussion Papers 4239, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  5. Dalen, H.P. van & Henkens, K. & Schippers, J., 2009. "Unraveling the Age-Productivity Nexus: Confronting Perceptions of Employers and Employees," Discussion Paper 2009-4, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  6. Katharina Frosch, 2009. "Do only new brooms sweep clean? A review on workforce age and innovation," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-005, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  7. Laura Romeu Gordo & Andreas Motel-Klingebiel & Susanne Wurm, 2009. "SOEP as a Source for Research on Ageing: Issues, Measures and Possibilities for Improvement," SOEPpapers 173, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
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