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Wages, Nonwage Job Characteristics, and Labor Mobility

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  • Ann P. Bartel

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of a set of nonwage job characteristics on the quit decisions of young and middle-aged men. The empirical analysis shows that young men are less likely to quit "physical" jobs or jobs with bad working conditions but are more likely to quit repetitive jobs. Older men, however, are more likely to quit jobs with physical requirements or bad physical conditions but are less likely to quit repetitious jobs. After they quit, young men experience an increase in the physical components of the job and a decline in repetitiveness while exactly the opposite holds for the older men. It was shown that the age differences in the impacts of the nonwage attributes could be explained by the fact that young men place greater weight on wage growth opportunities in the job and in the physically demanding jobs there are good opportunities for wage growth, while in the repetitive jobs, wage growth is slow. The finding that young workers want to move into jobs that are simultaneously perceived by older workers to be undesirable indicates how opportunities for mobility can improve an economy's productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann P. Bartel, 1980. "Wages, Nonwage Job Characteristics, and Labor Mobility," NBER Working Papers 0552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0552
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Parsons, Donald O, 1972. "Specific Human Capital: An Application to Quit Rates and Layoff Rates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(6), pages 1120-1143, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Ann P. Bartel & George J. Borjas, 1977. "Middle-Age Job Mobility: Its Determinants and Consequences," NBER Working Papers 0161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Viscusi, W Kip, 1979. "Job Hazards and Worker Quit Rates: An Analysis of Adaptive Worker Behavior," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 20(1), pages 29-58, February.
    4. Lucas, Robert E B, 1977. "Hedonic Wage Equations and Psychic Wages in the Returns to Schooling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(4), pages 549-558, September.
    5. repec:nbr:nberwo:285 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph G. Altonji & Robert A. Shakotko, 1987. "Do Wages Rise with Job Seniority?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(3), pages 437-459.
    2. Izabela Ostoj, 2018. "Reasons full-time students of economics in Poland undertake jobs," Managerial Economics, AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 19(1), pages 117-131.

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