Wage growth due to human capital accumulation and job search: a comparison between the United States and Germany

This paper compares the sources of wage growth of young male workers in two countries with very different labor market institutions, the United States and Germany. The author first develops a simple method for decomposing wage growth into components due to general human capital accumulation, firm-specific human capital accumulation, and job search. The empirical analysis uses data from administrative records (Germany) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (United States) for cohorts entering the labor market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although the two countries differed substantially in mobility rates, they were similar in the sources of wage growth, with general human capital accumulation being the most important single source and job search accounting for an additional 25% or more of total wage growth. There is no evidence that returns to firm-specific human capital accumulation were higher for German apprentices than for U.S. high school dropouts or graduates

Referral-based Job Search Networks

This paper develops a model and derives novel testable implications of referral-based job search networks in which employees provide employers with information about potential job market candidates that they otherwise would not have. Using unique matched employer-employee data that cover the entire workforce in one large metropolitan labor market over a 20 year period, we find strong support for the predictions of our model. We first show that firms are more likely to hire minority workers from a particular group if the existing share of workers from that group employed in the firm is higher. We then provide evidence that workers earn higher wages, and are less likely to leave their firms, if they were hired by a firm with a larger share of minority workers from their own group and are therefore more likely to have obtained the job through a referral. The effects are particularly strong at the beginning of the employment relationship and decline with tenure in the firm. These findings have important implications in suggesting that job search networks help to reduce informational deficiencies in the labor market and lead to productivity gains for workers and firms.networks, referrals, uncertainty

Referral-based Job Search Networks

This paper develops a model and derives novel testable implications of referral-based job search networks in which employees provide employers with information about potential job market candidates that they otherwise would not have. Using unique matched employeremployee data that cover the entire workforce in one large metropolitan labor market over a 20 year period, we find strong support for the predictions of our model. We first show that firms are more likely to hire minority workers from a particular group if the existing share of workers from that group employed in the firm is higher. We then provide evidence that workers earn higher wages, and are less likely to leave their firms, if they were hired by a firm with a larger share of minority workers from their own group and are therefore more likely to have obtained the job through a referral. The effects are particularly strong at the beginning of the employment relationship and decline with tenure in the firm. These findings have important implications in suggesting that job search networks help to reduce informational deficiencies in the labor market and lead to productivity gains for workers and firms.Networks, Referrals, Uncertainty

Geochemistry of volcanic rocks from the Woodlark Basin

EGU2011-12864 The Woodlark Basin east of Papua New Guinea represents one of the few places on Earth where a spreading axis propagates into continental crust. This special tectonic setting allows insights into the evolution of magma composition as continental extension and break-up changes to the formation of ocean crust. We report here geochemical results on samples collected in 2009 from the four segments closest to the continental breakup, from segment 1 which abuts the detachment fault responsible for continental extension on Moresby Seamount in the West, to segment 4, representing mature oceanic crust in the East. A total of 208 glass samples have been analyzed for their major (EMPA) and trace element (LA-ICPMS) compositions. The data show strong E-W variations. Samples ranging from tholeiitic basalt and basaltic andesite to andesite and rhyolite are found on Segment 1. They have generally high alkali values and a wide range of trace element contents and ratios. Segments 2 to 4 magmas in contrast only comprise tholeiitic basalt with lower alkali contents and a more restricted range of trace element chemistry. The geochemical differences between the segments cannot be attributed to differentiation processes alone, and different sources are required. High Ba/La, (La/Sm)N, Rb/Sr, and Th/La on Segment 1 suggest a derivation from an enriched mantle source, while low Nd/Pb and Nb/U suggest that some of the enrichment may also reflect the influence of continental crust during magma genesis. Whether this continental signature is present in the form of recycled material in the mantle or as rafted continental blocks in the axial region is at present unclear. In contrast to rocks from segment 1, trace element compositions of volcanic glasses from segments 2 to 4 show a stronger MORB signature, presumably reflecting more mature spreading in this part of the basin. The influence of continental material appears to be minimal, suggesting that uncontaminated asthenosphere quickly flows into the rift and/or that continental blocks are not retained in the axial region for long time periods following the rifting-spreading transition

Temporal variations in Galápagos plume-ridge interaction at the Cocos-Nazca spreading center

The major goals of cruise SO208 with the German research vessel Sonne were to investigate 1) plume-ridge interaction through time at the Cocos-Nazca spreading center (CNS) north of the Galápagos Islands by sampling across axis profiles of the seafloor and 2) off axis volcanism at the East Pacific Rise (EPR) versus far field effects of the Galápagos hotspot documented in seamounts off the coast of N Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Overall the nature of material transfer from the plume to the ridge and its large scale distribution throughout the Eastern Pacific is being investigated by means of major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb (double spike) isotope data. The seamounts on the EPR generated part of the Cocos plate appear to originate on one hand from a depleted MORBlike source consistent with their formation near the EPR axis, while other seamounts formed through lower degrees melting of an enriched OIB source either more distant from the EPR or by intraplate volcanism. Geochemical profiles across the Western and Eastern CNS indicate the participation of two different Galápagos plume components with a change in the amount this material entering the CNS with time. While at the western profile element ratios of more to less incompatible elements show an overall decrease of a plume component, Wolf-Darwin or Northern domain [1], with increasing age, the opposite is observed at the eastern profile. The Central domain component [1] increases with increasing age of the crust in this area. These observations indicate variable flux of specific Galápagos plume components to the CNS over the past 800 000 years. Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data to verify these observations are currently being generated and will be presented at the conference. [1] Hoernle et al. (2000) Geology 28, 435–43

Spacetime metric from linear electrodynamics

The Maxwell equations are formulated on an arbitrary (1+3)-dimensional manifold. Then, imposing a (constrained) linear constitutive relation between electromagnetic field $(E,B)$ and excitation $({\cal D},{\cal H})$, we derive the metric of spacetime therefrom.Comment: 4 pages' latex-scrip

Does the IABS reliably identify maternity leave taking?

"The data set that researchers have used most often to study career interruptions due to childbirth in the German context is the German Socioeconomic Panel. An alternative data source is the much larger IAB Employment Sample (IABS). Although this data set does not include direct information on childbirth, mothers on maternity leave can potentially be identified. There are, however, two problems. First, the leave variable in the IABS does not distinguish between maternity leave and other leave taking, such as sick leave. Second, the child's birth month has to be inferred from the month the mother goes on maternity leave, which is likely to lead to measurement error in the time the mother spends at home after childbirth. This paper investigates both problems, using an extended version of the IABS that supplements the social security records with direct information on childbirth from the German Pension Register. I find that for West German citizens, about 90% of leave spells are due to maternity leave. The child's birth month is correctly estimated for about 70%, and over- or underestimated by one month for about 25% of mothers. I conclude that the IABS 75-01 (as well as the latest weakly anonymous version at the FDZ) provides a valuable alternative data source to the GSOEP to study career interruptions due to childbirth, as long as the focus is on women who are attached to the labour market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe, Mutterschaftsurlaub, Erziehungsurlaub, Elternzeit, Mütter, erwerbstätige Frauen, Erwerbsunterbrechung - Dauer, Urlaubsdauer, berufliche Reintegration, Datenqualität