IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rim/rimwps/62_12.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Business Cycle Human Capital Accumulation Nexus and its Effect on Labor Supply Volatility

Author

Listed:
  • Diana Alessandrini

    (Department of Economics and finance, University of Guelph, Canada)

  • Stephen Kosempel

    (Department of Economics and finance, University of Guelph, Canada)

  • Thanasis Stengos

    (Department of Economics and finance, University of Guelph, Canada)

Abstract

This paper studies the cyclicality of human capital accumulation by using a lifecycle RBC model with two types of heterogeneity: age and productivity in learning. Results show that individuals invest more in human capital during economic downturns. In particular, schooling acts as a buffer sector and allows agents to compensate for the shock by accumulating more human capital. However, human capital accumulation is more countercyclical for young and low-productivity individuals because they face lower opportunity costs of education and a higher marginal product of human capital. These results are confirmed empirically using US data from the Current Population Survey.

Suggested Citation

  • Diana Alessandrini & Stephen Kosempel & Thanasis Stengos, 2012. "The Business Cycle Human Capital Accumulation Nexus and its Effect on Labor Supply Volatility," Working Paper series 62_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:rim:rimwps:62_12
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.rcea.org/RePEc/pdf/wp62_12.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Prescott, Edward C., 1986. "Theory ahead of business-cycle measurement," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 11-44, January.
    2. Hansen, Gary D., 1985. "Indivisible labor and the business cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 309-327, November.
    3. Hansen, G D, 1993. "The Cyclical and Secular Behaviour of the Labour Input: Comparing Efficiency Units and Hours Worked," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(1), pages 71-80, Jan.-Marc.
    4. Benhabib, Jess & Rogerson, Richard & Wright, Randall, 1991. "Homework in Macroeconomics: Household Production and Aggregate Fluctuations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1166-1187, December.
    5. Maliar, Lilia & Maliar, Serguei, 2001. "Heterogeneity in capital and skills in a neoclassical stochastic growth model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 25(9), pages 1367-1397, September.
    6. Erik Canton, 2002. "Business cycles in a two-sector model of endogenous growth," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 19(3), pages 477-492.
    7. Perli, Roberto, 1998. "Indeterminacy, home production, and the business cycle: A calibrated analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 105-125, February.
    8. Einarsson, Tor & Marquis, Milton H., 1998. "An RBC model with growth: the role of human capital," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 431-444, September.
    9. Mark Huggett & Gustavo Ventura & Amir Yaron, 2011. "Sources of Lifetime Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 2923-2954, December.
    10. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Mattila, J Peter, 1982. "Determinants of Male School Enrollments: A Time-Series Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(2), pages 242-251, May.
    12. Paul Gomme & Richard Rogerson & Peter Rupert & Randall Wright, 2005. "The Business Cycle and the Life Cycle," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2004, Volume 19, pages 415-592, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Julian R. Betts & Laurel L. McFarland, 1995. "Safe Port in a Storm: The Impact of Labor Market Conditions on Community College Enrollments," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(4), pages 741-765.
    14. Linda Nasif Edwards, 1976. "School Retention of Teenagers Over the Business Cycle," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 11(2), pages 200-208.
    15. Morten O. Ravn & Harald Uhlig, 2002. "On adjusting the Hodrick-Prescott filter for the frequency of observations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 371-375.
    16. Harris Dellas & Plutarchos Sakellaris, 2003. "On the cyclicality of schooling: theory and evidence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 148-172, January.
    17. Johnson, Thomas & Hebein, Frederick J, 1974. "Investments in Human Capital and Growth in Personal Income 1956-1966," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(4), pages 604-615, September.
    18. Nir Jaimovich & Seth Pruitt & Henry E. Siu, 2009. "The Demand for Youth: Implications for the Hours Volatility Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 14697, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Caballero, Ricardo J & Hammour, Mohamad L, 1994. "The Cleansing Effect of Recessions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1350-1368, December.
    20. Sakellaris, Plutarchos & Spilimbergo, Antonio, 2000. "Business cycles and investment in human capital: international evidence on higher education," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 221-256, June.
    21. Cunha, Flavio & Heckman, James J. & Lochner, Lance, 2006. "Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 697-812, Elsevier.
    22. Kydland, Finn E., 1984. "Labor-force heterogeneity and the business cycle," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 173-208, January.
    23. Haley, William J, 1976. "Estimation of the Earnings Profile from Optimal Human Capital Accumulation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(6), pages 1223-1238, November.
    24. Burkhard Heer & Alfred Maußner, 2024. "Dynamic General Equilibrium Modeling," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 3, number 978-3-031-51681-8, June.
    25. 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 11-44, August.
    26. David N. DeJong & Beth F. Ingram, 2001. "The Cyclical Behavior of Skill Acquisition," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 4(3), pages 536-561, July.
    27. Freddy Heylen & Lorenzo Pozzi, 2007. "Crises and human capital accumulation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 1261-1285, November.
    28. Mattila, J. Peter, 1982. "Determinants of Male School Enrollments, A Time-Series Analysis," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10849, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    29. 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 352-352.
    30. Hansen, Gary D. & Imrohoroglu, Selahattin, 2009. "Business cycle fluctuations and the life cycle: How important is on-the-job skill accumulation?," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(6), pages 2293-2309, November.
    31. Michael S. Christian, 2007. "Liquidity constraints and the cyclicality of college enrollment in the United States," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 141-169, January.
    32. Dellas, Harris & Koubi, Vally, 2003. "Business cycles and schooling," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 843-859, November.
    33. Kane, Thomas J, 1994. "College Entry by Blacks since 1970: The Role of College Costs, Family Background, and the Returns to Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 878-911, October.
    34. Johnson, Thomas, 1970. "Returns from Investment in Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 546-560, September.
    35. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessandrini, Diana, 2018. "Is post-secondary education a safe port and for whom? Evidence from Canadian data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1-13.
    2. Sara Ayllón & Natalia Nollenberger, 2021. "The Unequal Opportunity For Skills Acquisition During The Great Recession In Europe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 289-316, June.
    3. Anneleen Vandeplas & Anna Thum-Thysen, 2019. "Skills Mismatch and Productivity in the EU," European Economy - Discussion Papers 100, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    4. Fraser Summerfield & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2017. "The Effects Of Macroeconomic Conditions At Graduation On Overeducation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1370-1387, July.
    5. Bertoni Marco & Brunello Giorgio, 2022. "Training during recessions: recent European evidence," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Diana Alessandrini, 2021. "Progressive Taxation and Economic Stability," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(2), pages 422-452, April.
    7. Diana Alessandrini & Stephen Kosempel & Alessandra Pelloni & Thanasis Stengos, 2016. "Earnings inequality, the business cycle, and the life cycle," Working Papers 1602, University of Guelph, Department of Economics and Finance.
    8. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2023. "A real-business-cycle model with human capital accumulation: lessons for Bulgaria (1999-2018)," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 80-94, January.
    9. Franziska Hampf & Marc Piopiunik & Simon Wiederhold, 2020. "The Effects of Graduating from High School in a Recession: College Investments, Skill Formation, and Labor-Market Outcomes," CESifo Working Paper Series 8252, CESifo.
    10. Bonacini, Luca, 2020. "Unequal effects of the economic cycle on human capital investment. Evidence from Italian panel data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 733, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandrini, Diana & Kosempel, Stephen & Stengos, Thanasis, 2015. "The business cycle human capital accumulation nexus and its effect on hours worked volatility," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 356-377.
    2. Diana Alessandrini, 2014. "On the Cyclicality of Schooling Decisions: Evidence from Canadian Data," Working Paper series 16_14, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    3. Sara Ayllón & Natalia Nollenberger, 2021. "The Unequal Opportunity For Skills Acquisition During The Great Recession In Europe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 289-316, June.
    4. Diana Alessandrini & Stephen Kosempel & Alessandra Pelloni & Thanasis Stengos, 2016. "Earnings inequality, the business cycle, and the life cycle," Working Papers 1602, University of Guelph, Department of Economics and Finance.
    5. Bonacini, Luca, 2020. "Unequal effects of the economic cycle on human capital investment. Evidence from Italian panel data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 733, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Jing Dang & Max Gillman & Michal Kejak, 2011. "Real Business Cycles with a Human Capital Investment Sector and Endogenous Growth: Persistence, Volatility and Labor Puzzles," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1128, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    7. Barbara Sadaba & Sunčica Vujič & Sofia Maier, 2020. "Cyclicality of Schooling: New Evidence from Unobserved Components Models," Staff Working Papers 20-38, Bank of Canada.
    8. Larry Jones & Rodolfo Manuelli & Henry Siu, 2000. "Growth and Business Cycles," NBER Working Papers 7633, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Johnson, Matthew T., 2013. "The impact of business cycle fluctuations on graduate school enrollment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 122-134.
    10. Daehaeng Kim & Chul-In Lee, 2007. "On-the-Job Human Capital Accumulation in a Real Business Cycle Model: Implications for Intertemporal Substitution Elasticity and Labor Hoarding," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(3), pages 494-518, July.
    11. Larry E. Jones & Rodolfo E. Manuelli & Henry E. Siu, 2005. "Fluctuations in Convex Models of Endogenous Growth II: Business Cycle Properties," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 8(4), pages 805-828, October.
    12. Elizabeth B. Clelan & Michael S. Kofoed, 2017. "The Effect Of The Business Cycle On Freshman Financial Aid," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 253-268, April.
    13. Jennifer Graves & Zoë Kuehn, 2022. "Higher education decisions and macroeconomic conditions at age eighteen," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 171-241, May.
    14. José Luis Torres Chacon, 2015. "Introduction to Dynamic Macroeconomic General Equilibrium Models," Vernon Press Titles in Economics, Vernon Art and Science Inc, edition 2, number 54, July.
    15. José Luis Torres Chacon, 2015. "Introduction to Dynamic Macroeconomic General Equilibrium Models [Second Edition, Paperback]," Vernon Press Titles in Economics, Vernon Art and Science Inc, edition 2, number 44.
    16. Bedard, Kelly & Herman, Douglas A., 2008. "Who goes to graduate/professional school? The importance of economic fluctuations, undergraduate field, and ability," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 197-210, April.
    17. Erica Blom & Brian C. Cadena & Benjamin J. Keys, 2021. "Investment over the Business Cycle: Insights from College Major Choice," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(4), pages 1043-1082.
    18. Einarsson, Tor & Marquis, Milton H., 1998. "An RBC model with growth: the role of human capital," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 431-444, September.
    19. Anelí Bongers & Carmen Díaz-Roldán & José L. Torres, 2022. "Brain drain or brain gain? International labor mobility and human capital formation," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 647-671, July.
    20. Dimitrios Varvarigos, 2013. "Endogenous Cycles and Human Capital," Discussion Papers in Economics 13/18, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    human capital accumulation; business cycles; labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rim:rimwps:62_12. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marco Savioli (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rcfeait.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.