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Establishment size and task-specific wages: Evidence from historical contract data

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  • Pehkonen, Jaakko

Abstract

This study examines whether task-specific jobs are rewarded differently across establishments of different sizes and whether these rewards vary across distinct technologies. We found that the aggregate premium estimates on the impact of size on wages conceal significant differences between tasks and technologies and that these differences reflect unobserved individual heterogeneity. The role of self-selection of more productive workers into larger establishments is particularly substantial in the case of abstract tasks.

Suggested Citation

  • Pehkonen, Jaakko, 2014. "Establishment size and task-specific wages: Evidence from historical contract data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 48-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:124:y:2014:i:1:p:48-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2014.04.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Oi, Walter Y. & Idson, Todd L., 1999. "Firm size and wages," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 2165-2214, Elsevier.
    2. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1279-1333.
    3. Moore, Henry Ludwell, 1911. "Laws of Wages: An essay in statistical economics," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number moore1911.
    4. Aimee Chin & Chinhui Juhn & Peter Thompson, 2006. "Technical Change and the Demand for Skills during the Second Industrial Revolution: Evidence from the Merchant Marine, 1891-1912," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 572-578, August.
    5. Cerejeira, João & Guimarães, Paulo, 2012. "The price of unobservables and the employer-size wage premium," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 878-880.
    6. Erling Barth & Harald Dale-Olsen, 2011. "Employer Size or Skill Group Size Effect on Wages?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(2), pages 341-355, January.
    7. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue nov.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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