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Relationship Skills in the Labor and Marriage Markets

Author

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  • Gueorgui Kambourov
  • Aloysius Siow
  • Laura Turner

Abstract

This paper examines the roles of relationship skill and human capital in determining life-cycle outcomes in education, labor, and marriage markets. We find strong empirical evidence of an individual fixed factor that affects both job and marriage separation hazards and extract an index of non-cognitive skill that increases the durability of relationships in marriages and in the labor market. Using this index, we develop and estimate a two-factor life-cycle model of schooling, job search, and marriage. We find that relationship skill can explain about 40% of the persistence in employment turnover and 35% of the persistence in marriage turnover.

Suggested Citation

  • Gueorgui Kambourov & Aloysius Siow & Laura Turner, 2015. "Relationship Skills in the Labor and Marriage Markets," Working Papers tecipa-543, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-543
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Iris Kesternich & Bettina Siflinger & James P. Smith & Franziska Valder, 2022. "Relationship Stability: Evidence from Labor and Marriage Markets," CEBI working paper series 22-20, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    2. Devereux, Kevin, 2018. "Identifying the value of teamwork: Application to professional tennis," CLEF Working Paper Series 14, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    relationship skill; social skills; search and matching; marriage; occupational sorting; two-factor models; human capital; non-cognitive skills;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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