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The Skill-Weights Approach on Firm Specific Human Capital: Empirical Results for Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Uschi Backes-Gellner

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

  • Johannes Mure

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

Abstract

In a recent paper Ed Lazear (2004) proposed the so called skill-weights view of firm-specific human capital. According to his theory all single skills are general but each firm may require a different combination of these single skills. The purpose of our paper is to test Lazear`s model using a large and very detailed data set, the BIBB/IAB Qualification and Career Survey. The paper focuses on firms` investments in human capital, which according to the skill-weights approach should depend on the specificity of the firm’s skill combination, on the breadth of the skill bundle, on the thickness of the external labor market and on the probability of separation. We estimate OLS regressions and poisson regression for count data. We find that all implications are borne out in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Uschi Backes-Gellner & Johannes Mure, 2005. "The Skill-Weights Approach on Firm Specific Human Capital: Empirical Results for Germany," Working Papers 0056, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU), revised Apr 2005.
    • Handle: RePEc:iso:wpaper:5056
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    File URL: http://repec.business.uzh.ch/RePEc/iso/ISU_WPS/56_ISU_full.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2004
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giorgio Brunello & Francesca Gambarotto, 2004. "Agglomeration Effects on Employer-Provided Training: Evidence from the UK," CESifo Working Paper Series 1150, CESifo.
    2. Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2001. "Continuous training in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 14(3), pages 523-548.
    3. Brunello, Giorgio & De Paola, Maria, 2004. "Training and the Density of Economic Activity: Evidence from Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 1173, IZA Network @ LISER.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Elisabeth Bublitz, 2018. "Matching skills of individuals and firms along the career path," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 509-537.
    2. Kristjan-Olari Leping, 2005. "Measuring the Specificity of Human Capital: a Skill-based Approach," Working Papers 134, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology.
    3. Kristjan-Olari Leping, 2009. "Measuring the Specificity of Human Capital:a Skill-based Approach," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 9(1), pages 39-54, July.
    4. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Johannes Mure, 2008. "The Swiss Leading House on Economics of Education, Firm Behaviour and Training Policies," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0014, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    5. Edward P. Lazear & Paul Oyer, 2012. "Personnel Economics [The Handbook of Organizational Economics]," Introductory Chapters,, Princeton University Press.
    6. Harald U. Pfeifer, 2008. "Train to gain - The benefits of employee-financed training in Germany," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0037, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M53 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Training

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