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Human Capital and Worker Productivity: Direct Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data

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  • John M. Abowd
  • Francis Kramarz

Abstract

The long literatures on the determinants of wage rates at the individual level and on the empirical relation between productivity and wage rates intersect when attention is focused on longitudinally linked employer-employee data. We estimate separate statistical components of wage rates associated with the observable individual characteristics, unobservable individual heterogeneity and unobservable employer heterogeneity. We define general human capital as the portable components of the full-time, full-year wage rate. Within each employer in the linked sample, we create employer-aggregates of the general human capital. We then estimate the relation between sales per employee, general human capital, and employer wage heterogeneity using micro data for the employing firms. The results reveal direct statistical links between the productivity outcome (sales/worker) and general human capital, controlling for firm-specific wage rate heterogeneity, which can be interpreted as specific human capital or as part of a firm-specific compensation strategy.

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  • John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz, 2005. "Human Capital and Worker Productivity: Direct Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 79-80, pages 323-338.
    • Handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:2005:i:79-80:p:323-338
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    Cited by:

    1. David C. Maré & Dean R. Hyslop & Richard Fabling, 2017. "Firm productivity growth and skill," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 302-326, September.
    2. David Card & Jörg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2013. "Workplace Heterogeneity and the Rise of West German Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 967-1015.
    3. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Seija Ilmakunnas, 2011. "Diversity at the Workplace: Whom Does it Benefit?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 223-255, June.
    4. Susana Iranzo & Fabiano Schivardi & Elisa Tosetti, 2008. "Skill Dispersion and Firm Productivity: An Analysis with Employer-Employee Matched Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 247-285, April.
    5. Navon, Guy, 2009. "Human Capital Spillovers in the Workplace: Labor Diversity and Productivity," MPRA Paper 17741, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Anneleen Vandeplas & Anna Thum-Thysen, 2019. "Skills Mismatch and Productivity in the EU," European Economy - Discussion Papers 100, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    7. Julia Lane, 2006. "The Impact of Employers of the Outcomes of Low-Wage workers," LoWER Working Papers wp12, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    8. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Hannu Piekkola, 2014. "Intangible investment in people and productivity," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 443-456, June.

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