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Are Specific Skills an Obstacle to Labour Market Adjustment? Theory and an Application to the EU Enlargement

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Author Info
Lamo, Ana
Messina, Julián
Wasmer, Etienne

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Abstract

Countries react differently to large labour reallocation shocks. Some minimize the costs by adapting rapidly, while others suffer long periods of costly adjustment, typically high and persistent unemployment and temporary output losses. We argue that the existence of large amounts of specific human capital slows down the transitions and makes them costly. We illustrate this point by building a theoretical framework in which young agents' careers are heavily determined by the type of initial education, and analyze the transition to a new steady-state after a sectoral demand shift. In the absence of mobility, it can take as much as a generation for the economy to absorb the shock. An interesting case study is the European Union enlargement, which led to a modernization of many sectors in Eastern countries and to a fast decline of traditional industries and agriculture. Using labour force data from a large economy with rigid labour markets, Poland, and a small open economy with increased flexibility, Estonia, we document our main claim, namely that specialized education reduces workers' mobility and hence their ability to cope with economic changes. We find that holding a vocational degree is associated with much longer unemployment duration spells, relatively large wage penalties when changing jobs and higher likelihood of leaving activity for elder workers. Quantitative exercises suggest that the over-specialization of the labour force in Poland led to much higher and persistent unemployment compared to Estonia during the period of EU enlargement. Traditional labour market institutions (wage rigidity and employment protection) increased, but to a much lesser extent, the unemployment gap.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5503.

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Date of creation: Feb 2006
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5503

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Related research
Keywords: enlargement; labour reallocation; matching; specific skills; unemployment; vocational education;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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Full references

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. Ignazio Angeloni & Luc Aucremanne & Matteo Ciccarelli, 2006. "Price setting and inflation persistence: did EMU matter?," Working Paper Series 597, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Domenico Giannone & Lucrezia Reichlin, 2006. "Trends and cycles in the euro area: how much heterogeneity and should we worry about it?," Working Paper Series 595, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Bert Minne & Marc van der Steeg & Dinand Webbink, 2008. "Skill gaps in the EU: role for education and training policies," CPB Documents 162, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  4. Katja Funke & Christiane Nickel, 2006. "Does fiscal policy matter for the trade account? A panel cointegration study," Working Paper Series 620, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Etienne Wasmer, 2006. "General versus Specific Skills in Labor Markets with Search Frictions and Firing Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 811-831, June. [Downloadable!]
  6. António Afonso & Vítor Gaspar, 2006. "Excess burden and the cost of inefficiency in public services provision," Working Paper Series 601, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Lorenzo Cappiello & Peter Hördahl & Arjan Kadareja & Simone Manganelli, 2006. "The impact of the euro on financial markets," Working Paper Series 598, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  8. Daniel A. Dias & Carlos Robalo Marques & João M. C. Santos Silva, 2006. "Measuring the importance of the uniform nonsynchronization hypothesis," Working Paper Series 606, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ohlsson, Henry & Storrie, Donald, 2007. "Long term effects of public policy for displaced workers in Sweden – shipyard workers in the West and miners in the North," Working Paper Series 2007:19, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  10. Paolo Vitale, 2006. "A market microstructure analysis of foreign exchange intervention," Working Paper Series 629, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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