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MisMatch in Human Capital Accumulation

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  • Russell Cooper
  • Huacong Liu

Abstract

This paper studies the allocation of heterogeneous agents to levels of educational attainment. The goal is to understand the magnitudes and sources of mismatch in this assignment, both in theory and in the data. The paper presents evidence of substantial mismatch between ability and educational attainment across 21 OECD countries, with a focus on Germany, Italy, Japan and the US. In the model, mismatch originates from: (i) taste shocks, (ii) binding borrowing constraints and (iii) noisy measures of ability in test scores. The model is estimated using a simulated method of moments approach. The main finding is that measured mismatch arises largely from noise in test scores and does not reflect borrowing constraints. Differences in tastes for education across households play a minor role in explaining mismatch. Further, the estimation allows us to decompose the college wage premium, isolating cross-country differences in selection effects from the return to education.

Suggested Citation

  • Russell Cooper & Huacong Liu, 2016. "MisMatch in Human Capital Accumulation," NBER Working Papers 22010, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Xing & Guo, Yue & Hou, Jiani & Liu, Jun, 2021. "Human Capital Allocation and Enterprise Innovation Performance: An Example of China's Knowledge-Intensive Service Industry," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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