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Long-Term Wage Fluctuations with Industry-Specific Human Capital

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  • Weinberg, Bruce A

Abstract

Exploiting long term interindustry demand shifts, this article provides evidence that (1) industry-level wages do not respond to industry demand conditions; (2) at the industry level, the employment of young workers responds more to demand shifts than does the employment of experienced workers; and (3) the postdisplacement wages of displaced workers are strongly affected by demand in their predisplacement industries. These findings are consistent with a model in which worker's investments in industry-specific skills pose a barrier to interindustry labor mobility and wages do not respond to spot labor market conditions. Copyright 2001 by University of Chicago Press.

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  • Weinberg, Bruce A, 2001. "Long-Term Wage Fluctuations with Industry-Specific Human Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 231-264, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:19:y:2001:i:1:p:231-64
    DOI: 10.1086/209985
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    Cited by:

    1. Ayaka Nakamura, 2019. "The Effect of Employer Tenure on Wages in Japan," OSIPP Discussion Paper 19E007, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    2. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2011. "Schooling, employer learning, and internal labor market effect: Wage dynamics and human capital investment in the Japanese steel industry, 1930-1960s," MPRA Paper 30597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Fugazza, Carolina & Giofré, Maela & Nicodano, Giovanna, 2011. "International diversification and industry-related labor income risk," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 764-783, October.
    4. Jaeyong Yu & Gunyoung Lee & Jang Ho Kim, 2021. "Towards Personal Financial Sustainability Based on Human Capital Analysis in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, March.
    5. N. Guertzgen, 2014. "Wage insurance within German firms: do institutions matter?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 177(2), pages 345-369, February.
    6. Miguel Portela & Ana Rute Cardoso, 2005. "The provision of wage insurance by the firm: evidence from a longitudinal matched employer-employee dataset," NIPE Working Papers 17/2005, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    7. Ana Rute Cardoso & Miguel Portela, 2009. "Micro Foundations for Wage Flexibility: Wage Insurance at the Firm Level," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(1), pages 29-50, March.
    8. Donghoon Lee & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2006. "Intersectoral Labor Mobility and the Growth of the Service Sector," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 1-46, January.
    9. Smits, W., 2007. "Industry-specific or generic skills? Conflicting interests of firms and workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 653-663, June.
    10. Esther Eiling, 2013. "Industry-Specific Human Capital, Idiosyncratic Risk, and the Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(1), pages 43-84, February.
    11. Winston, Ashley, 2002. "Developing a Cost of Capital Module for Computable General Equilibrium Modelling," Conference papers 331042, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    12. Glenn MacDonald & Michael S. Weisbach, 2004. "The Economics of Has-beens," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(S1), pages 289-310, February.
    13. Francesca Sgobbi & Fátima Suleman, 2015. "The Value of Transferable Skills," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 62(4), pages 378-399, September.
    14. Yih-chyi Chuang & Chun-yuan Lee, 2004. "Industry-specific human capital and the wage profile: Evidence from Taiwan," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 140(1), pages 110-124, March.
    15. Kátay, Gábor, 2008. "Do firms provide wage insurance against shocks? Evidence from Hungary," Working Paper Series 964, European Central Bank.
    16. Keongtae Kim & Sunil Mithas & Jonathan Whitaker & Prasanto K. Roy, 2014. "Research Note —Industry-Specific Human Capital and Wages: Evidence from the Business Process Outsourcing Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 618-638, September.
    17. Carl Sanders & Christopher Taber, 2012. "Life-Cycle Wage Growth and Heterogeneous Human Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 399-425, July.
    18. Colonnello, Stefano & Koetter, Michael & Wagner, Konstantin, 2023. "Compensation regulation in banking: Executive director behavior and bank performance after the EU bonus cap," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1).
    19. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & John C. Robertson, 2004. "Wage gains among job changers across the business cycle: insight from state administrative data," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2004-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    20. Francesca Sgobbi, 2013. "The Borders of Inter-Firm Mobility for ICT Employees in Italy," International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals (IJHCITP), IGI Global, vol. 4(1), pages 34-45, January.

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