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Estimating the employer size-wage premium in a panel data model with comparative advantage and non-random selection

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Abstract

This paper considers the estimation of the employer-size wage e?ect using a panel of employer-employee matched data. We test for the possibility of different returns to observable human capital variables as well as examine the role played by unmeasured skills in driving the allocation of workers across firms of di?erent sizes. Our results show that some of the observed skills; namely, education, age, and tenure have high returns in large firms, while the opposite is true for high skilled occupations and for the gender gap. On the other hand, the price of non-observed skills is reduced as firm size increases. This finding is consistent with explanations based on the premise that large employers have more difficulty monitoring workers, which therefore leads them to monitor less closely.

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  • João Carlos Cerejeira da Silva, 2004. "Estimating the employer size-wage premium in a panel data model with comparative advantage and non-random selection," NIPE Working Papers 6/2004, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    • Handle: RePEc:nip:nipewp:6/2004
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    Cited by:

    1. Cerejeira, João & Guimarães, Paulo, 2012. "The price of unobservables and the employer-size wage premium," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 878-880.
    2. Therry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2006. "Establishment Size and the Dipsersion of Wages: Evidence from european Countries," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 52(4), pages 309-336.
    3. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2007. "Employer Size and the Structure of Wages: A Critical Survey," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 75-87.
    4. Thierry Lallemand & Robert Plasman & François Rycx, 2007. "The establishment-size wage premium: evidence from European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(5), pages 427-451, December.
    5. Alexander Muravyev, 2007. "Firm Size, Wages and Unobserved Skills: Evidence from Dual Job Holdings in the UK," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 681, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Alexander Muravyev, 2009. "Employer Size, Wages And Unobserved Skills: Evidence From Moonlighters In The Uk," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 77(6), pages 651-674, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm size; wages; non-random selection.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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