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Men at Work in a Land Down-under

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  • Alison Booth
  • Pamela Katic

Abstract

We use new training data from waves 3-6 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey to investigate the training and wages of full-time men. We explore the extent to which the data are consistent with the predictions of human capital theory or with recent alternative theories based on imperfectly competitive labour markets. According to the raw data, most work-related training received by full-time private sector men is general but it is also paid for by employers. Our fixed effects estimates reveal that this training is associated with higher wages in current and in future firms, and that the effect in future firms is larger and more precisely determined. These results are more consistent with the predictions of human capital theory based on imperfectly competitive labour markets than with the alternative of perfect competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Alison Booth & Pamela Katic, 2008. "Men at Work in a Land Down-under," CEPR Discussion Papers 586, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:dpaper:586
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    File URL: https://www.cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEPR/DP586.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Allen, J.P. & van der Velden, R.K.W., 2012. "Skills for the 21st century: implications for education," Research Memorandum 043, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    2. Ruud Gerards & Andries de Grip & Maaike Witlox, 2014. "'Employability-miles' and worker employability awareness," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(9), pages 952-965, March.
    3. Jens Mohrenweiser & Thomas Zwick & Uschi Backes‐Gellner, 2019. "Poaching and Firm‐Sponsored Training," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(1), pages 143-181, March.
    4. Alison L. Booth & Pamela Katic, 2011. "Estimating the Wage Elasticity of Labour Supply to a Firm: What Evidence is there for Monopsony?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 87(278), pages 359-369, September.
    5. Tina Hinz & Jens Mohrenweiser, 2019. "Competition, Institutions and Company-sponsored Training," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0162, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    6. C. Waddoups, 2011. "Firm Size and Work-Related Training: New Evidence on Incidence, Intensity, and Training Type from Australia," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 390-413, December.
    7. Sylvi Rzepka & Marcus Tamm, 2016. "Local employer competition and training of workers," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(35), pages 3307-3321, July.
    8. C. Jeffrey Waddoups, 2014. "Union Membership and Job-Related Training: Incidence, Transferability, and Efficacy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 753-778, December.
    9. Görlitz, Katja & Rzepka, Sylvi, 2014. "Does Regional Training Supply Determine Employees' Training Participation?," Ruhr Economic Papers 479, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    10. Hinz, Tina & Mohrenweiser, Jens, 2017. "The Effect of Regional Competition and Company-sponsored Training on the Productivity-Wage Wedge," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168292, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Jorge Calero & Josep-Oriol Escardíbul, 2014. "Barriers to non-formal professional training in Spain in periods of economic growth and crisis. An analysis with special attention to the effect of the previous human capital of workers," Working Papers 2014/12, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    12. Katja Görlitz & Sylvi Rzepka, 2017. "Regional training supply and employees’ training participation," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(1), pages 281-296, July.
    13. C. Jeffrey Waddoups, 2014. "Union Coverage and Work-Related Training in the Construction Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 532-555, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    work-related training; full-time men; training costs; general human capital; turnover;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

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