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Training and Search on the Job

Author

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  • Rasmus Lentz
  • Nicolas Roys

Abstract

The paper studies human capital accumulation over workers? careers in an on the job search setting with heterogenous firms. In renegotiation proof employment con- tracts, more productive firms provide more training. Both general and specific training induce higher wages within jobs, and with future employers, even conditional on the future employer type. Because matches do not internalize the specific capital loss from employer changes, specific human capital can be over-accumulated, more so in low type firms. While validating the Acemoglu and Pischke (1999) mechanisms, the analysis nevertheless arrives at the opposite conclusion: That increased labor market friction reduces training in equilibrium.

Suggested Citation

  • Rasmus Lentz & Nicolas Roys, 2015. "Training and Search on the Job," Working Papers 2016-25, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2016-025
    DOI: 10.20955/wp.2016.025
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa-Dias & David Goll & Costas Meghir, 2021. "Wages, Experience, and Training of Women over the Life Cycle," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(S1), pages 275-315.
    2. Liyan Shi, 2023. "Optimal Regulation of Noncompete Contracts," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 425-463, March.
    3. Liyan Shi, 2021. "The Macro Impact of Noncompete Contracts," EIEF Working Papers Series 2103, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised 2021.
    4. Daniela Del Boca & Christopher Flinn & Ewout Verriest & Matthew Wiswall, 2018. "Actors in the Child Development Process," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 575, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    5. Magnac, Thierry, 2023. "Capital humain et recherche d'emploi: un mariage heureux - Human Capital and Search Models: A Happy Match," TSE Working Papers 23-1489, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    6. Christopher Flinn & Ahu Gemici & Steven Laufer, 2017. "Search, Matching, and Training," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 25, pages 260-297, April.
    7. Thierry Magnac, 2024. "Human Capital and Search Models: A Happy Match," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 75(1), pages 11-29.
    8. Seung-Gyu Sim & Tim Huegerich, 2018. "Employer Incentives for Providing Informal On-the-job Training in the Presence of On-the-job Search," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 22-40, March.
    9. Andrew Glover & Jacob Short, 2020. "Demographic Origins of the Decline in Labor's Share," BIS Working Papers 874, Bank for International Settlements.
    10. Ammar Farooq, 2016. "The U-shape of Over-education? Human Capital Dynamics & Occupational Mobility over the Lifecycle," 2016 Papers pfa484, Job Market Papers.
    11. Daniela Del Boca & Christopher Flinn & Ewout Verriest & Matthew Wiswall, 2018. "Actors in the Child Development Process," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 575, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    12. Mary Ann Bronson, 2018. "The Lifecycle Wage Growth of Men and Women: Explaining Gender Differences in Wage Trajectories," 2018 Meeting Papers 923, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Liyan Shi, 2019. "Restrictions on Executive Mobility and Reallocation: The Aggregate Effect of Non-Compete Contracts," 2019 Meeting Papers 852, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    14. Mary Ann Bronson & Peter Skogman Thoursie, 2017. "The Lifecycle Wage Growth of Men and Women: Explaining Gender Differences in Wage Trajectories," Working Papers gueconwpa~17-17-06, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage contracts; human capital; training; wage dispersion; frictional labor markets; optimal contract design; firm heterogeneity; sorting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • 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
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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