IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/0053.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Progress in Human Capital Analysis of the Distribution of Earnings

Author

Listed:
  • Jacob Mincer

Abstract

The traditional studies of income distribution, a field with which economists are becoming increasingly concerned, must be described as basically sociological. The ascendancy of the human capital approach can be viewed as a reaction of economists to this non-economic, though certainly not irrelevant, tradition. In stressing the role played by individual and family optimizing decisions in human capital investments, important aspects of income determination are brought back within the mainstream of economic theory and within the power of its analytical and econometric tools. Human capital is not the only element of choice in the analysis of income distribution . Nevertheless, it appears that the subject of human capital investments lends itself to a more systematic and comprehensive analysis of wage differentials, than each of the other factors. The following is a description of research in the distribution of labor incomes in which human capital theory serves as an organizing principle. It is, in part, a sequel to my 1970 survey and, in part, a report of ongoing research of my own and of others.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob Mincer, 1974. "Progress in Human Capital Analysis of the Distribution of Earnings," NBER Working Papers 0053, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w0053.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Griliches, Zvi & Mason, William M, 1972. "Education, Income, and Ability," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(3), pages 74-103, Part II, .
    2. George E. Johnson & Frank P. Stafford, 1973. "Social Returns to Quantity and Quality of Schooling," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(2), pages 139-155.
    3. Weiss, Yoram, 1971. "Investment in Graduate Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(5), pages 833-852, December.
    4. Gary S. Becker & George J. Stigler, 1974. "Law Enforcement, Malfeasance, and Compensation of Enforcers," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Milton Friedman, 1953. "Choice, Chance, and the Personal Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(4), pages 277-277.
    6. Gintis, Herbert, 1971. "Education, Technology, and the Characteristics of Worker Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 266-279, May.
    7. Simon Kuznets & Milton Friedman, 1939. "Incomes from Independent Professional Practice, 1929-1936," NBER Chapters, in: Incomes from Independent Professional Practice, 1929-1936, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Hause, John C, 1972. "Earnings Profile: Ability and Schooling," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(3), pages 108-138, Part II, .
    9. Arleen Leibowitz, 1974. "Production Within the Household," NBER Working Papers 0027, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Yoram Ben-Porath, 1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 352-352.
    11. Paul J. Taubman & Terence Wales, 1974. "Higher Education and Earnings: College as an Investment and Screening Device," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number taub74-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Buchinsky, Mosche & Kramarz, Francis & Fougère, Denis & Kamionka, Thierry & Beffy, Magali, 2006. "The Returns to Seniority in France (and Why are They Lower than in the United States?)," CEPR Discussion Papers 5486, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Muhammad Azmat Hayat & Mumtaz Anwar Chaudhry & Maryam Batool & Huma Ghulam & Abid Raza Khan & Cristi Spulbar & Muhammad Zahid Naeem & Ramona Birau & Maria Magdalena Criveanu, 2022. "Turning Crisis into a Sustainable Opportunity Regarding Demand for Training and New Skills in Labor Market: An Empirical Analysis of COVID-19 Pandemic and Skills Upgradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Jeffrey Clemens & Joshua D. Gottlieb & Jeffrey Hicks, 2021. "How Would Medicare for All Affect Health System Capacity? Evidence from Medicare for Some," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 225-262.
    4. David B. Audretsch & Maksim Belitski & Farzana Chowdhury & Sameeksha Desai, . "Home-country export regulations, credit markets, and corruption: implications for different types of internationalization," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    5. Godfroid, Cécile & Otiti, Naome & Mersland, Roy, 2022. "Employee tenure and staff performance: The case of a social enterprise," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 457-467.
    6. Makó, Ágnes, 2019. "A közismereti tudás és az elkötelezettség hatása a szakiskolát végzettek munkaerőpiaci esélyeire [General knowledge and commitment as factors in the labour-market chances of those completing vocati," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 434-458.
    7. Fix, Blair, 2019. "An Evolutionary Theory of Resource Distribution," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue 90, pages 65-97.
    8. Ipek Ilkkaracan & Raziye Selim, 2007. "The Gender Wage Gap in the Turkish Labor Market," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(3), pages 563-593, September.
    9. Fix, Blair, 2021. "The Rise of Human Capital Theory," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue 95, pages 29-41.
    10. Venkatanarayana Motkuri & Ellanki Revathi, 2023. "Public Expenditure on Education in India: Centre–State Allocations," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 8(2), pages 194-208, July.
    11. Ghulam Mustafa, 2023. "Is the Decision to Obtain Higher Education in Pakistan Worth Repaying? New Evidence from Returns on Education for Paid-Employees," PIDE-Working Papers 2023:6, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.

    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. Reuben Gronau, 2010. "Zvi Griliches' Contribution to the Theory of Human Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Contributions in Memory of Zvi Griliches, pages 275-297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Philippe Cazenave, 1976. "Pour une nouvelle analyse économique de la demande de formation," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 27(1), pages 54-84.
    3. repec:eee:labchp:v:1:y:1986:i:c:p:525-602 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Michael Grossman, 1999. "The Human Capital Model of the Demand for Health," NBER Working Papers 7078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Paul Wachtel, 1975. "The Effect of School Quality on Achievement, Attainment Levels, and Lifetime Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Explorations in Economic Research, Volume 2, number 4, pages 502-536, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Dougherty, Christopher, 2003. "Numeracy, literacy and earnings: evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 511-521, October.
    7. repec:eee:labchp:v:1:y:1986:i:c:p:357-386 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Byoung Uk Kang & Jin-Mo Kim & Oded Palmon & Zhaodong Zhong, 2020. "Are college education and job experience complements or substitutes? Evidence from hedge fund portfolio performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1247-1278, May.
    9. Edward Lazear, 1977. "Schooling as a Wage Depressant," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 12(2), pages 164-176.
    10. James Heckman & Anne Layne-Farrar & Petra Todd, 1995. "The Schooling Quality-Earnings Relationship: Using Economic Theory to Interpret Functional Forms Consistent with the Evidence," NBER Working Papers 5288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Joop Hartog, 1976. "Ability And Age‐Income Profiles," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 22(1), pages 61-74, March.
    12. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-864, October.
    13. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2373-2437 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Joop Hartog & Mirjam Van Praag & Justin Van Der Sluis, 2010. "If You Are So Smart, Why Aren't You an Entrepreneur? Returns to Cognitive and Social Ability: Entrepreneurs Versus Employees," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 947-989, December.
    15. Lex Borghans & Bart Golsteyn, 2007. "Skill transferability, regret and mobility," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(13), pages 1663-1677.
    16. Galor, Oded & Tsiddon, Daniel, 1997. "Technological Progress, Mobility, and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 363-382, June.
    17. Barry R. Chiswick, 2006. "Jacob Mincer, Experience and the Distribution of Earnings," Springer Books, in: Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics, chapter 10, pages 109-126, Springer.
    18. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    19. Paul Taubman & Terence Wales, 1975. "Education as an Investment and a Screening Device," NBER Chapters, in: Education, Income, and Human Behavior, pages 95-122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Lee A. Lillard, 1977. "An Essay on Human Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: Explorations in Economic Research, Volume 4, number 5, pages 702-752, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Light, Audrey, 2001. "In-School Work Experience and the Returns to Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 65-93, January.
    22. Borisov Gleb, 2005. "The human capital heterogeneity at the Russian labor market," EERC Working Paper Series 01-151e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    23. Andrén, Daniela & Palmer, Edward, 2001. "The Effect Of Sickness On Earnings," Working Papers in Economics 45, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

    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:nbr:nberwo:0053. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.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.