Is There a Link between Economic Outcomes and Genetic Evolution? Cross-Country Evidence from the Major Histocompatibility Complex

This research develops a theory and presents empirical evidence of a link between economic outcomes and genetic evolution. Important properties for successful analysis of such a link are found in the adaptive immune system and particularly in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a genetically encoded complex involved in the defence against infections. The theory incorporates properties of the MHC in a model of mutual dependence and exhibits a trade-off in which every agent who is better off having an immune response different from that of others is also part of the protecting belt of others in a population, in which mounting similar immune responses is optimal. The data are based on large numbers of blood samples from 63 different populations. The cross-country estimates show a robust negative association between economic and health outcomes and MHC diversity and between average offers in ultimatum and trust games and MHC diversity. The analyses suggest that societies incorporating externalities from mutual dependence are economically more successful, and that the incorporation of such externalities is evident at the gene level.Economics ;

Wage Elasticities of the Supply of R & D Workers in the Netherlands

No abstract.

Is there a link between economic outcomes and genetic evolution? Cross-country evidence from the major histocompatibility complex

This research develops a theory and presents empirical evidence of a link between economicoutcomes and genetic evolution. Important properties for successful analysis of such a link arefound in the adaptive immune system and particularly in the major histocompatibilitycomplex (MHC), a genetically encoded complex involved in the defence against infections.The theory incorporates properties of the MHC in a model of mutual dependence and exhibitsa trade-off in which every agent who is better off having an immune response different fromthat of others is also part of the protecting belt of others in a population, in which mountingsimilar immune responses is optimal. The data are based on large numbers of blood samplesfrom 63 different populations. The cross-country estimates show a robust negative associationbetween economic and health outcomes and MHC diversity and between average offers inultimatum and trust games and MHC diversity. The analyses suggest that societiesincorporating externalities from mutual dependence are economically more successful, andthat the incorporation of such externalities is evident at the gene level.education, training and the labour market;

Job Mobility in Europe, Japan and the U.S.

Evidence about job mobility outside the U.S. is scarce and difficult to compare cross-nationally because of non-uniform data. We document job mobility patterns of college graduates in their first three years in the labor market, using unique uniform data covering 11 European countries and Japan. Using the NLSY, we replicate the information in this survey to compare the results to the U.S. We find that (1) U.S. graduates hold more jobs than European graduates. (2) Contrasting conventional wisdom, job mobility in Japan is only somewhat lower than the European average. (3) There are large differences in job mobility within Europe.Europe, graduates, job mobility, Japan, U.S.

Wage effects of on-the-job training; a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis is used to study the average wage effects of on-the-job training. This study showsthat the average reported wage effect of on-the-job training, corrected for publication bias, is2.6 per cent per course. The analyses reveal a substantial heterogeneity between training courses,while wage effects reported in studies based on instrumental variables and panel estimators aresubstantially lower than estimates based on techniques that do not correct for selectivity issues.Appropriate methodology and the quality of the data turn out to be crucial to determine the wagereturns.labour economics ;

Job mobility in Europe, Japan and the US

Evidence about job mobility outside the U.S. is scarce and difficult to compare cross-nationally because of non-uniform data. We document job mobility patterns of college graduates in their first three years in the labor market, using unique uniform data covering 11 European countries and Japan. Using the NLSY, we replicate the information in this survey to compare the results to the U.S. We find that (1) U.S. graduates hold more jobs than European graduates. (2) Contrasting conventional wisdom, job mobility in Japan is only somewhat lower than the European average. (3) There are large differences in job mobility within Europe.labour economics ;

Wage effects of on-the-job training. A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis is used to study the average wage effects of on-the-job training. This study shows that the average reported wage effect of on-the-job training, corrected for publication bias, is 2.6 per cent per course. The analyses reveal a substantial heterogeneity between training courses, while wage effects reported in studies based on instrumental variables and panel estimators are substantially lower than estimates based on techniques that do not correct for selectivity issues. Appropriate methodology and the quality of the data turn out to be crucial to determine the wage returns.Economics ;