IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_6883.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Finance, Talent Allocation, and Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco D'Acunto
  • Laurent Frésard

Abstract

The growing finance wage premium is related to a modest net reallocation of skilled workers from non-finance sectors into finance in a broad sample of 24 countries over 35 years. The reallocation is higher when the finance wage premium grows faster than the contribution of the financial sector to the economy, which we proxy with the relative value added of finance. More innovative sectors and sectors exhibiting lower labor-transition costs face a higher reallocation of skilled workers. Yet, the growing finance wage premium is unrelated to sectoral or aggregate growth, to countries’ innovative capacity, to student enrollment in STEM degrees, and to the riskiness, efficiency, and competitiveness of banking sectors. Overall, the reallocation of skilled labor implied by a growing finance wage premium appears too modest to materially affect economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco D'Acunto & Laurent Frésard, 2018. "Finance, Talent Allocation, and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 6883, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6883
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp6883.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cecchetti, Stephen & Kharroubi, Enisse, 2015. "Why does financial sector growth crowd out real economic growth?," CEPR Discussion Papers 10642, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Thomas Philippon & Ariell Reshef, 2013. "An International Look at the Growth of Modern Finance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 73-96, Spring.
    3. Ulf Axelson & Philip Bond, 2015. "Wall Street Occupations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(5), pages 1949-1996, October.
    4. Erik Hurst & Benjamin Wild Pugsley, 2011. "What Do Small Businesses Do?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 73-142.
    5. Pellegrino, Bruno & Zingales, Luigi, 2017. "Diagnosing the Italian Disease," Working Papers 269, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    6. Bekaert, Geert & Harvey, Campbell R. & Lundblad, Christian, 2005. "Does financial liberalization spur growth?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 3-55, July.
    7. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Does Local Financial Development Matter?," Springer Books, in: Damiano Bruno Silipo (ed.), The Banks and the Italian Economy, chapter 0, pages 31-66, Springer.
    8. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 503-530.
    9. Luigi Zingales, 2015. "Does Finance Benefit Society?," NBER Working Papers 20894, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Steven N. Kaplan & Joshua Rauh, 2010. "Wall Street and Main Street: What Contributes to the Rise in the Highest Incomes?," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Governance, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Robert G. King & Ross Levine, 1993. "Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might Be Right," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 717-737.
    12. Christiane Kneer, 2013. "Finance as a Magnet for the Best and Brightest: Implications for the Real Economy," DNB Working Papers 392, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    13. Marianne Bertrand & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2010. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 228-255, July.
    14. Hamid Boustanifar & Everett Grant & Ariell Reshef, 2018. "Wages and Human Capital in Finance: International Evidence, 1970–2011 [Financial reform: what shakes it? What shapes it?]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 699-745.
    15. Vincent Glode & Richard Lowery, 2016. "Compensating Financial Experts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(6), pages 2781-2808, December.
    16. Ross Levine, 1997. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 688-726, June.
    17. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    18. Claire Célérier & Boris Vallée, 2017. "Catering to Investors Through Security Design: Headline Rate and Complexity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(3), pages 1469-1508.
    19. Mauricio Larrain, 2015. "Editor's Choice Capital Account Opening and Wage Inequality," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1555-1587.
    20. Patrick Bolton & Tano Santos & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2016. "Cream-Skimming in Financial Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(2), pages 709-736, April.
    21. Thomas Philippon & Ariell Reshef, 2012. "Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Finance Industry: 1909--2006," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(4), pages 1551-1609.
    22. Asli Demeirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine (ed.), 0. "Finance and Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17119.
    23. John H. Cochrane, 2013. "Finance: Function Matters, Not Size," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 29-50, Spring.
    24. Thomas Philippon, 2010. "Financiers versus Engineers: Should the Financial Sector Be Taxed or Subsidized?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 158-182, July.
    25. Christophe Pérignon & Boris Vallée, 2017. "The Political Economy of Financial Innovation: Evidence from Local Governments," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(6), pages 1903-1934.
    26. Beck, Thorsten & Levine, Ross & Loayza, Norman, 2000. "Finance and the sources of growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 261-300.
    27. Henry, Peter Blair, 2000. "Do stock market liberalizations cause investment booms?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 301-334.
    28. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 1999. "Bank-based and market-based financial systems - cross-country comparisons," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2143, The World Bank.
    29. Axelson, Ulf & Bond, Philip, 2015. "Wall Street occupations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 37448, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    30. Hamid Boustanifar & Everett Grant & Ariell Reshef, 2016. "Wages and human capital in finance: international evidence, 1970-2005," Globalization Institute Working Papers 266, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    31. Luigi Zingales, 2015. "Presidential Address: Does Finance Benefit Society?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1327-1363, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Finance and the reallocation of scientific, engineering and mathematical talent," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/510i09nqpa8gfpt7na72sknq4q is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Arnold, Lutz G. & Zelzner, Sebastian, 2022. "Financial trading versus entrepreneurship: Competition for talent and negative feedback effects," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 186-199.
    4. Popov, Alexander, 2017. "Evidence on finance and economic growth," Working Paper Series 2115, European Central Bank.
    5. Hamid Boustanifar & Everett Grant & Ariell Reshef, 2018. "Wages and Human Capital in Finance: International Evidence, 1970–2011 [Financial reform: what shakes it? What shapes it?]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 699-745.
    6. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934, Elsevier.
    7. Michiel Bijlsma & Andrei Dubovik, 2014. "Banks, Financial Markets and Growth in Developed Countries: a Survey of the empirical literature," CPB Discussion Paper 266.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    8. Joshua D Gottlieb & Richard R Townsend & Ting Xu, 2022. "Does Career Risk Deter Potential Entrepreneurs?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(9), pages 3973-4015.
    9. Michiel Bijlsma & Andrei Dubovik, 2014. "Banks, Financial Markets and Growth in Developed Countries: a Survey of the empirical literature," CPB Discussion Paper 266, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    10. Ugo Panizza, 2018. "Nonlinearities in the Relationship Between Finance and Growth," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(1), pages 44-53, March.
    11. Gründler, Klaus & Weitzel, Jan, 2013. "The financial sector and economic growth in a panel of countries," Discussion Paper Series 123, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    12. Benfratello, Luigi & Schiantarelli, Fabio & Sembenelli, Alessandro, 2008. "Banks and innovation: Microeconometric evidence on Italian firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 197-217, November.
    13. Efing, Matthias & Hau, Harald & Kampkötter, Patrick & Rochet, Jean-Charles, 2018. "Bank Bonus Pay as a Risk Sharing Contract," HEC Research Papers Series 1285, HEC Paris.
    14. Hamid Boustanifar & Everett Grant & Ariell Reshef, 2016. "Wages and human capital in finance: international evidence, 1970-2005," Globalization Institute Working Papers 266, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    15. Emmanuel Carré & Guillaume L’Œillet, 2017. "Une revue de la littérature récente sur le nexus finance-croissance après la crise : apports, limites et pistes de recherche," Revue d'économie financière, Association d'économie financière, vol. 0(3), pages 271-290.
    16. Jingzhu Chen & Yuemei Ji, 2022. "Is Finance Good for Growth? New Evidence from China," CESifo Working Paper Series 9882, CESifo.
    17. Norman Loayza & Amine Ouazad & Romain Ranciere, 2017. "Financial Development, Growth, and Crisis: Is There a Trade-Off?," Working Papers 114, Peruvian Economic Association.
    18. Gründler, Klaus, 2015. "The vanishing effect of finance on growth," Discussion Paper Series 133, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    19. Asano, Koji, 2021. "Managing Financial Expertise," MPRA Paper 107665, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Emmanuel Carré & Guillaume L’œillet, 2018. "The Literature on the Finance–Growth Nexus in the Aftermath of the Financial Crisis: A Review," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(1), pages 161-180, March.
    21. Michael Böhm & Daniel Metzger & Per Strömberg, 2022. "“Since You’re So Rich, You Must Be Really Smart”: Talent, Rent Sharing, and the Finance Wage Premium," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 147, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    finance wage premium; skilled labor; misallocation; growth; innovation; banking sector.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6883. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.