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Intra-Firm Human Capital Externalities in Tunisia

Author

Listed:
  • Christophe Muller
  • Christophe J. Nordman

    (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA, 33, Bd. du Port, F-95000 Cergy, France,IRD
    DIAL, Paris. 4 rue d'Enghien 75010, Paris.)

Abstract

In this case-study, we use matched worker-firm Tunisian data to elicit the roles of intra-firm human capital and modern firm features in worker remunerations. We show that the estimated return to education in wage equations is not modified when replacing in the list of regressors the firm dummies, representing observed and unobserved firm heterogeneity, by the first three factors of a Principal Component Analysis of the observed firm characteristics. These factors can be interpreted as: the activity sector, the intra-firm human capital density and the modernity of the firm. These results constitute an interesting argument in favour of the presence of intra-firm human capital externalities. Moreover, the estimated education coefficient does not change when the three factors are replaced by three surrogate variables, respectively: the textile industry dummy, the intra-firm mean education, and the firm’s age.

Suggested Citation

  • Christophe Muller & Christophe J. Nordman, 2008. "Intra-Firm Human Capital Externalities in Tunisia," THEMA Working Papers 2008-38, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    • Handle: RePEc:ema:worpap:2008-38
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    File URL: http://thema.u-cergy.fr/IMG/documents/2008-38.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic development; rate of returns; human capital; wage differentials; intra-firm knowledge externalities; Tunisia.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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