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Occupational Mobility Within and Between Skill Clusters: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Skill-Weights Approach

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Author Info

  • Regula Geel

    () (Institute for Strategy and Business Economics, University of Zurich)

  • Uschi Backes-Gellner

    () (Institute for Strategy and Business Economics, University of Zurich)

Abstract

Mobility and flexibility is increasingly demanded as structural change challenges estab-lished educational systems and traditional occupational demarcations. We use Lazear’s skill-weights approach (2003) first to operationalize the degree of specificity of skill com-binations in an innovative manner and second to derive hypotheses about the effects of occupation-specific skill combinations. In our empirical section, we find that the more specific an occupation, the smaller is the probability of an occupational change, as ex-pected. Furthermore, we are able to identify different clusters of occupations that are char-acterized by similar skill combinations within a given cluster and different skill combina-tions between clusters. We find that employees in very specific occupations have a com-paratively higher probability of changing their occupation within than between skill clus-ters. Moreover, occupational mobility within a skill cluster is accompanied by wage gains, while mobility between skill clusters results in wage losses. Not surprisingly, the more specific the former occupation is, either the higher is the resulting wage loss or the smaller is the resulting wage gain depending on whether the move is between or within skill clus-ters, respectively. Therefore, the acquired skill combination rather than the occupation per se crucially determines the mobility of an employee.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU) in its series Economics of Education Working Paper Series with number 0047.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iso:educat:0047

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Keywords: Skill-weights approach; mobility; skill clusters; apprenticeship training;

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References

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  1. Borghans Lex & Golsteyn Bart, 2006. "Skill Transferability Regret and Mobility," Research Memoranda 003, Maastricht : ROA, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market.
  2. Regula Geel & Johannes Mure & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2011. "Specificity of occupational training and occupational mobility: an empirical study based on Lazear’s skill-weights approach," Education Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 519-535, January.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Jens Mohrenweiser, 2012. "Recruitment and Apprenticeship Training," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0073, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
  2. Mohrenweiser, Jens & Zwick, Thomas, 2008. "Why Do Firms Train Apprentices? The Net Cost Puzzle Reconsidered," ZEW Discussion Papers 08-019, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
  3. Warnke, Arne Jonas & Ederer, Peer & Schuller, Philipp, 2012. "Cognitive skills, tasks and job mobility," Annual Conference 2012 (Goettingen): New Approaches and Challenges for the Labor Market of the 21st Century 62026, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
  4. Barbara Mueller & Juerg Schweri, 2012. "The returns to occupation-specific human capital - Evidence from mobility after training," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0081, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
  5. Kathrin Goeggel & Thomas Zwick, 2011. "Heterogeneous Wage Effects of Apprenticeship Training," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0062, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).

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