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Human Capital and Earnings Distribution Dynamics

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Author Info
Mark Huggett () (Department of Economics, Georgetown University)

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Abstract

Earnings heterogeneity plays a crucial role in modern macroeconomics. We document that mean earnings and measures of earnings dispersion and skewness all increase in US data over most of the working life-cycle for a typical cohort as the cohort ages. We show that a human capital model can replicate these properties from the right distribution of initial human capital and learning ability, while producing the key properties of the cross-section distribution. We also show that learning ability differences are essential to produce the increase in earnings dispersion over the life cycle and that these differences account for the bulk of the variation in the present value of earnings across agents. These findings emphasize the need to further understand the role and origins of initial conditions in macro models.

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Paper provided by Georgetown University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number gueconwpa~03-03-10.

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Date of creation: 01 Nov 2001
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Handle: RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~03-03-10

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Postal: Georgetown University Department of Economics Washington, DC 20057-1036
Phone: 202-687-6074
Fax: 202-687-6102
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Web page: http://econ.georgetown.edu/

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Postal: Marcia Suss Administrative Officer Georgetown University Department of Economics Washington, DC 20057-1036
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Web: http://econ.georgetown.edu/

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Related research
Keywords: Precautionary wealth; earnigs risk; multi-period models;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods and Programming - - - General
D90 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - General

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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    Other versions:
  3. MaCurdy, Thomas E., 1982. "The use of time series processes to model the error structure of earnings in a longitudinal data analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 83-114, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Storesletten, Kjetil & Telmer, Chris I. & Yaron, Amir, 1999. "The risk-sharing implications of alternative social security arrangements," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 213-259, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Deaton, Angus & Paxson, Christina, 1994. "Intertemporal Choice and Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(3), pages 437-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Heckman, James J, 1976. "A Life-Cycle Model of Earnings, Learning, and Consumption," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages S11-44, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Storesletten, Kjetil & Telmer, Christopher I. & Yaron, Amir, 2004. "Consumption and risk sharing over the life cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 609-633, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Hanoch, Giora & Honig, Marjorie, 1985. ""True" Age Profiles of Earnings: Adjusting for Censoring and for Period and Cohort Effects," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 383-94, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Mark Huggett & Gustavo Ventura, 1999. "On the Distributional Effects of Social Security Reform," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(3), pages 498-531, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. R. Glenn Hubbard & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, 1994. "The Importance of Precautionary Motives in Explaining Individual and Aggregate Saving," NBER Working Papers 4516, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Dean R. Hyslop, 2001. "Rising U.S. Earnings Inequality and Family Labor Supply: The Covariance Structure of Intrafamily Earnings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 755-777, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Smith, James P & Welch, Finis, 1979. "Inequality: Race Differences in the Distribution of Earnings," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 20(2), pages 515-26, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Card, David, 1999. "The causal effect of education on earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1801-1863 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Dooley, Martin D & Gottschalk, Peter, 1984. "Earnings Inequality among Males in the United States: Trends and the Effect of Labor Force Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(1), pages 59-89, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Creedy, J & Hart, P E, 1979. "Age and the Distribution of Earnings," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 89(354), pages 280-93, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Neal, Derek & Rosen, Sherwin, 2000. "Theories of the distribution of earnings," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 379-427 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Rosen, Sherwin, 1976. "A Theory of Life Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages S45-67, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Yoram Ben-Porath, 1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75, pages 352. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Keane, Michael P & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1997. "The Career Decisions of Young Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 473-522, June.
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  26. James J. Heckman & Lance Lochner & Christopher Taber, 1998. "Explaining Rising Wage Inequality: Explorations with a Dynamic General Equilibrium Model of Labor Earnings with Heterogeneous Agents," NBER Working Papers 6384, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  27. Imrohoroglu, Ayse & Imrohoroglu, Selahattin & Joines, Douglas H, 1995. "A Life Cycle Analysis of Social Security," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 83-114, June.
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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. Gregory Gilpin & Michael Kaganovich, 2009. "The Quantity and Quality of Teachers: A Dynamic Trade-off," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  2. Amir Yaron, 2007. "The Research Agenda: Amir Yaron on Lifetime Inequality and Long Run Risks and Asset Pricing," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 9(1), November. [Downloadable!]
  3. Andres Erosa & Luisa Fuster & Diego Restuccia, 2005. "A quantitative theory of the gender gap in wages," Working Paper 05-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Heathcote, Jonathan & Storesletten, Kjetil & Violante, Giovanni L, 2005. "Insurance and Opportunities: The Welfare Implications of Rising Wage Dispersion," CEPR Discussion Papers 5200, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Camilo Mondragón-Vélez, 2009. "The probability of transition to entrepreneurship revisited: wealth, education and age," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 421-441, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Marla, Ripoll & Juan, Cordoba, 2006. "The Role of Education in Development," MPRA Paper 1864, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2007. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Mathias Sommer, 2008. "Understanding the trends in income, consumption and wealth inequality and how important are life-cycle effects?," MEA discussion paper series 08160, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
  8. Seung Mo Choi, 2008. "How Large are Learning Externalities? Measurement by Calibration," Working Papers 2008-26, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University. [Downloadable!]
  9. Heathcote, Jonathan & Storesletten, Kjetil & Violante, Giovanni L, 2007. "Consumption and Labour Supply with Partial Insurance: An Analytical Framework," CEPR Discussion Papers 6280, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Burhanettin Kuruscu, 2006. "Training and Lifetime Income," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 832-846, June. [Downloadable!]
  11. Marco Cagetti & Mariacristina De Nardi, 2006. "Wealth Inequality: Data and Models," NBER Working Papers 12550, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Juan-Carlos Cordoba, 2004. "Debt-Constraints or Incomplete Markets? A Decomposition of the Wealth and Consumption Inequality in the U.S," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 335, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Fatih Guvenen & Burhanettin Kuruscu, 2007. "A Quantitative Analysis of the Evolution of the U.S. Wage Distribution: 1970-2000," NBER Working Papers 13095, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Francis, Johanna L., 2007. "Wealth and the Capitalist Spirit," MPRA Paper 5985, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Mark Huggett & Gustavo Ventura & Amir Yaron, 2007. "Sources of Lifetime Inequality," NBER Working Papers 13224, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Kredler, Matthias, 2008. "Experience vs. Obsolescence: A Vintage-Human-Capital Model," MPRA Paper 10200, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  17. Sommer, Mathias, 2008. "Understanding the trends in income, consumption and wealth inequality and how important are life-cycle effects?," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 08-12, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
  18. Audra J. Bowlus & Chris Robinson, 2008. "Human Capital Prices, Productivity and Growth," University of Western Ontario, CIBC Human Capital and Productivity Project Working Papers 20085, University of Western Ontario, CIBC Human Capital and Productivity Project. [Downloadable!]
  19. Gilles Le Garrec, 2005. "Social security, inequality and growth," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2005-22, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE). [Downloadable!]
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