Essays on human capital and labor market dynamics

This thesis investigates the role of human capital in understanding recent developments in the U.S. labor market. Chapter 1 provides novel empirical evidence suggesting that an increasing importance of on-the-job human capital accumulation is behind the declining dynamism in job turnover. The quanti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Cairó, Isabel
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/146181
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/146181
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Labor markets
Human capital
Employment
Unemployment
Search and matching models
On-the-job training
Demographics
Mercats de treball
Capital humà
Ocupació
Desocupació
Models de cerca i aparellament
Formació al lloc de treball
Demografia
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Descripción
Sumario:This thesis investigates the role of human capital in understanding recent developments in the U.S. labor market. Chapter 1 provides novel empirical evidence suggesting that an increasing importance of on-the-job human capital accumulation is behind the declining dynamism in job turnover. The quantitative results of a theoretical model show that the proposed explanation can account for almost one-third of the decline in job turnover. Chapter 2 shows that population aging and rising educational attainment are two crucial factors behind the downward trend in unemployment flows since mid-1970s. A theoretical model where older and more educated workers posses more job-specific human capital can account for the observed trends. Chapter 3 finds that more educated individuals experience lower and less volatile unemployment due to a lower hazard rate of losing a job. A theoretical model with initial on-the-job training illustrates that accumulation of match-specific human capital can explain this empirical pattern.