IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lis/liswps/688.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Specificity of Human Capital Investment under Agent Heterogeneity and Market Frictions: Theory and Empirics

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Jagelka

Abstract

The large difference between the functioning of European and American labor markers has inspired much debate and research. Wasmer (2006) came up with an innovative explanation for this disparity based on asymmetric investment in specific and general human capital between the two economic areas. He developed a model of a labor market with matching frictions and endogenous choice of human capital investment which has never been tested empirically. The present paper expands this model to include individual heterogeneity and brings it to the data. Using international data on over 20 countries from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) database which has thus far been largely unexplored in this literature, it finds broad support for the model's findings. Notably, agents seem to prefer investing in specific rather than general skills when market frictions, proxied here by the unemployment rate, are high. This investment is in turn reflected in a significantly increased expected job tenure. These results are robust across countries, education levels, and controls included and should encourage further research into this so far scarcely explored territory.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Jagelka, 2017. "The Specificity of Human Capital Investment under Agent Heterogeneity and Market Frictions: Theory and Empirics," LIS Working papers 688, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:688
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lisdatacenter.org/wps/liswps/688.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4, June.
    2. Meer, Jonathan, 2007. "Evidence on the returns to secondary vocational education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 559-573, October.
    3. Wolter, Stefan C. & Ryan, Paul, 2011. "Apprenticeship," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 11, pages 521-576, Elsevier.
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/8904 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Lamo, Ana & Messina, Julián & Wasmer, Etienne, 2011. "Are specific skills an obstacle to labor market adjustment?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 240-256, April.
    6. Bishop, John H. & Mane, Ferran, 2004. "The impacts of career-technical education on high school labor market success," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 381-402, August.
    7. Cole, Harold L & Rogerson, Richard, 1999. "Can the Mortensen-Pissarides Matching Model Match the Business-Cycle Facts?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 40(4), pages 933-959, November.
    8. Oosterbeek, Hessel & Webbink, Dinand, 2007. "Wage effects of an extra year of basic vocational education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 408-419, August.
    9. Åsa Rosén & Etienne Wasmer, 2005. "Higher Education Levels, Firms’ Outside Options and the Wage Structure," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 19(4), pages 621-654, December.
    10. Dearden, Lorraine, et al, 2002. "The Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications in Britain," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 249-274, July.
    11. Giorgio Brunello & Lorenzo Rocco, 2015. "The effects of vocational education on adult skills and wages: What can we learn from PIAAC?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 168, OECD Publishing.
    12. Ofer Malamud & Cristian Pop-Eleches, 2010. "General Education versus Vocational Training: Evidence from an Economy in Transition," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 43-60, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brunello, Giorgio & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2015. "The Labour Market Effects of Academic and Vocational Education over the Life Cycle: Evidence from Two British Cohorts," IZA Discussion Papers 9275, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Eichhorst, Werner & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria & Schmidl, Ricarda & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2012. "A Roadmap to Vocational Education and Training Systems Around the World," IZA Discussion Papers 7110, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Giorgio Brunello & Lorenzo Rocco, 2017. "The effects of vocational education on adult skills, employment and wages: What can we learn from PIAAC?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 315-343, November.
    4. Sofia Oliveira, 2015. "Returns to Vocational Education in Portugal," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 10, in: Marta Rahona López & Jennifer Graves (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 10, edition 1, volume 10, chapter 37, pages 725-750, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    5. Eric A. Hanushek & Guido Schwerdt & Ludger Woessmann & Lei Zhang, 2017. "General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Lifecycle," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(1), pages 48-87.
    6. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    7. Huzeyfe Torun & Semih Tumen, 2019. "Do vocational high school graduates have better employment outcomes than general high school graduates?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1364-1388, August.
    8. Franziska Hampf & Ludger Woessmann, 2017. "Vocational vs. General Education and Employment over the Life Cycle: New Evidence from PIAAC," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 63(3), pages 255-269.
    9. Werner Eichhorst & Núria Rodríguez-Planas & Ricarda Schmidl & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2015. "A Road Map to Vocational Education and Training in Industrialized Countries," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 68(2), pages 314-337, March.
    10. Elad Demalach & Noam Zussman, 2017. "The Effect of Vocational Education on Short- and Long-Term Outcomes of Students: Evidence from the Arab Education System in Israel," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2017.11, Bank of Israel.
    11. Machin, Stephen & McNally, Sandra & Terrier, Camille & Ventura, Guglielmo, 2020. "Closing the Gap between Vocational and General Education? Evidence from University Technical Colleges in England," IZA Discussion Papers 13837, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Neyt, Brecht & Verhaest, Dieter & Baert, Stijn, 2020. "The impact of dual apprenticeship programmes on early labour market outcomes: A dynamic approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Regina T. Riphahn & Michael Zibrowius, 2015. "Apprenticeship, Vocational Training and Early Labor Market Outcomes - in East and West Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 743, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    14. Polidano, Cain & Tabasso, Domenico, 2013. "Making It Real: The Benefits of Workplace Learning in Upper-Secondary VET Courses," IZA Discussion Papers 7633, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Dieter Verhaest & Stijn Baert, 2018. "The effects of workplace learning in higher education on employment and match quality: is there an early-career trade-off?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 1229-1270, November.
    16. Biewen, Martin & (neé Tapalaga), Madalina Thiele, 2020. "Early tracking, academic vs. vocational training, and the value of ‘second-chance’ options," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Bart H. H. Golsteyn & Anders Stenberg, 2017. "Earnings over the Life Course: General versus Vocational Education," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(2), pages 167-212.
    18. Giorgio Brunello & Lorenzo Rocco, 2017. "The Labor Market Effects of Academic and Vocational Education over the Life Cycle: Evidence Based on a British Cohort," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 106-166.
    19. Regina T. Riphahn & Michael Zibrowius, 2013. "Apprenticeship Training and Early Labor Market Outcomes in East and West Germany," Working Papers 136, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    20. Werner Eichhorst, 2015. "Does vocational training help young people find a (good) job?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 112-112, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:688. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Piotr Paradowski (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lisprlu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.