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On-The-Job Search, Productivity Shocks and the Individual Earnings Process

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Author Info
Postel-Vinay, Fabien
Turon, Hélène

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Abstract

Individual labour earnings observed in worker panel data have complex, highly persistent dynamics. We investigate the capacity of a structural job search model with i.i.d. productivity shocks to replicate salient properties of these dynamics, such as the covariance structure of earnings, the evolution of individual earnings mean and variance with the duration of uninterrupted employment, or the distribution of year-to-year earnings changes. Specifically, we show within an otherwise standard job search model how the combined assumptions of on-the-job search and wage renegotiation by mutual consent act as a quantitatively plausible 'internal propagation mechanism' of i.i.d. productivity shocks into persistent wage shocks. The model suggests that wage dynamics should be thought of as the outcome of a specific acceptance/rejection scheme of i.i.d. productivity shocks. This offers an alternative to the conventional linear ARMA-type approach to modelling earnings dynamics. Structural estimation of our model on a 12-year panel of highly educated British workers shows that our simple framework produces a dynamic earnings structure which is remarkably consistent with the data.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5593.

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Date of creation: Mar 2006
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5593

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Related research
Keywords: covariance structure of earnings; individual shocks; job search; structural estimation;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Jerome Adda & Christian Dustmann & Costas Meghir & Jean-Marc Robin, 2006. "Career progression and formal versus on-the-job training," IFS Working Papers W06/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Carrillo-Tudela, Carlos & Smith, Eric, 2009. "Wage Dispersion and Wage Dynamics Within and Across Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 4031, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Magnac, Thierry & Roux, Sébastien, 2007. "Dynamique des salaires dans une cohorte," IDEI Working Papers 436, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
  4. Joseph G. Altonji & Anthony Smith & Ivan Vidangos, 2009. "Modeling Earnings Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 14743, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Shintaro Yamaguchi, 2009. "Job Search, Bargaining, and Wage Dynamics," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd08-026, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Jesper Bagger and Morten Henningsen, 2008. "Job Durations and the Job Search Model: A Two-Country, Multi-Sample Analysis," Discussion Papers 553, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  7. Julien Prat, 2007. "The Rate of Learning-by-Doing: Estimates from a Search-Matching Model," IZA Discussion Papers 2780, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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