On the industry experience premium and labor mobility [WP]

[cat] Hi ha evidència que l'experiència es remunera diferentment segons la indústria. Proposem un model teòric que explica aquestes diferències. Suposem que la mobilitat de treballadors aporta coneixement extern a l'empresa i això augmenta la seva productivitat. Els resultats mostren que l'experiència és millor remunerada en les indústries amb costos de mobilitat baixos, amb molt aprenentatge (learning-by-doing) i alt nivell tecnològic. A més, trobem una relació en forma de U entre la remuneració de l'experiència i el nivell d'absorció de coneixement extern, la substitutibilitat entre diferents tipus de treballadors i la varietat de coneixement dins la indústria. Els resultats són consistents amb l'evidència que les indústries intensives en I and D remuneren millor l'experiència.[eng] There is evidence that experience premium differs across industries. We propose a theoretical model for explaining these differences. We assume that labor mobility brings external knowledge to the firm, which increases its productivity. We find that industry experience premium is decreasing in the inter-firm mobility costs, while increasing in the learning-by-doing and the technological level of the industry. Moreover, it has a U-shape relationship with the level of learning-by-hiring, the substitutability between different types of experienced workers and the variety of knowledge in the industry. Results are consistent with the empirical findings that R and D-intensive industries have steeper wage profiles

On the industry-experience premium and labor mobility

There is evidence that experience premium differs across industries. We propose a theoretical model for explaining these differences. We assume that labor mobility brings external knowledge to the firm, which increases its productivity. We find that industry experience premium is decreasing in inter-firm mobility costs, while increasing in the learning-by-doing and the technological level of the industry. Moreover, it has a U-shape relationship with the level of learning-by-hiring, the substitutability between different types of experienced workers and the variety of knowledge in the industry. Results are consistent with the empirical findings that R&D-intensive industries have steeper wage profiles

Job Satisfaction of Spanish University Graduates

This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction of university graduates in Spain. We base our analysis on Locke"s discrepancy theory [Locke (1969)] and decompose subjective evaluation of job characteristics into surplus and deficit levels. We also study the importance of overeducation and over-skilling on job satisfaction. We use REFLEX data, a survey of university graduates. We conclude that job satisfaction is mostly determined by the subjective evaluation of intrinsic job characteristics, with an asymmetric impact of surpluses and deficits. Over-skilling is much more important than over-education in explaining the job satisfaction of university graduates, although the latter is also significant

A new look at technical progress and early retirement

Technical progress affects early retirement in two opposing ways. On the one hand, it increases real wages and thus produces an incentive to postpone retirement. On the other hand, it erodes workers' skills, making early retirement more likely. We re-examine the effect of technical progress on early retirement in the US. We measure technical change during the whole working life of the individuals and find that its effect on the probability of early retirement is non-monotonic. In particular, when technical change is small, the erosion effect dominates, but when it is large the wage effect dominates. These results may signal that the higher the technical change, the more willing are the elderly to retrain, which has direct policy implications for the design of elderly training programs

Qualitative social differentiation in tertiary education in Spain

[cat] En aquest treball, s'estudia si la hipòtesi de la desigualtat efectivament mantinguda “effectively maintained inequality” es cumpleix a Espanya. Es postula que en les transicions terciàries a Espanya, les influències dels pares no es manifesten tant a través de la probabilitat de fer la transició, sinó més aviat a través de les diferències qualitatives associades a aquesta transició en termes de les qualitats dels programes educatius. Analitzem dues característiques qualitatives dels estudis universitaris: la durada del programa i el seu prestigi acadèmic. Identifiquem per a quins individus la influència parental és més important en cada cas.[eng] In this paper, we study whether the Effectively Maintained Inequality Hypothesis occurs in Spain. We hypothesize that at tertiary transitions in Spain, parental influences manifest not so much through the likelihood of making that transition, but rather through the qualitative differences associated to this transition in terms of educational program qualities. We analyze two qualitative characteristics of the university studies: the length of the program and its academic prestige. We identify for which individuals parental background matters the most in each case

Working from home in European countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

We use data from the EU Labour Force Survey for 8 countries and document the levels of working from home in the sample countries, industries, and occupations in the 2011-2019 period and its changes in 2020, the year when the COVID-19 pandemic started. We show that there are significant differences in working from home across countries, industries, and occupations and that working from home has increased almost everywhere in the 2011-2019 period and more significantly in 2020. Countries that had the lowest levels of working from home in 2019 enacted the most stringent stay-home and workplace closure policies and experienced the largest growth rates in working from home in 2020. Finally, we compute a measure of working from home capacity for the sample countries using the observed working from home levels

Graduate labor mismatch in Poland

This paper investigates education-labor mismatch for university graduates in Poland using the HEGESCO survey. Mismatch refers to the level of discord between the job performed by an individual and its education and skills. We evaluate three different dimensions of mismatch: vertical (under-/overeducation), horizontal (wrong field of study for the job performed), and skills mismatch (under-/overskilled). We discuss our results in the light of the large increase in the demand for tertiary education as well as in the number of tertiary education institutions that occurred in Poland after the transition process from communism to market economy

Entrepreneurial skills and wage employment

Promotion of entrepreneurial skills among the population is often considered as an adequate policy to enhance job creation and economic growth. However, neither the definition of entrepreneurial skills, nor the costs and benefits of such a policy are clear. Our aim is to check whether the benefits of entrepreneurial skills extent beyond self-employment. We use a sample of higher education graduates from Spain, from the year 2000 interviewed in 2005 (REFLEX survey). We denote entrepreneurial skills as those competencies that enhance the likelihood of self-employment. Then we analyze whether they are rewarded in wage employment. We find that alertness to new opportunities, ability to mobilize others and knowledge of other fields are the competencies that enhance self-employment in Spain. Yet, these skills are not rewarded in a salaried job. Therefore, benefits of policies fostering entrepreneurial skills do not extend to wage employment in Spain

Why do tertiary education graduates regret their study program? A comparison between Spain and the Netherlands

In this paper we investigate the determinants of regret of study program for tertiary education graduates in Spain and the Netherlands. These two countries differ in their educational system in terms of the tracking structure in their secondary education and the strength of their education-labor market linkages in tertiary education. Therefore, by comparing Spain and the Netherlands, we aim at learning about the consequences that the two educational systems might have on the regret of study program in tertiary education. Basing on the psychological literature on regret, we derive some expectations on the determinants of regret of study program. Results reveal that both, education track and education-labor mismatch of tertiary education, are important determinants of the likelihood of program regret. Results allow us to derive some policy recommendations on the tertiary education system

Restrictions for different functional forms of the matching function

We provide bounds on the parameters of matching functions such that the job-finding rate and the vacancy-filling rate are below 1. We do that in the context of the canonical search and matching model with a Pissarides-type free-entry condition. We find that the restrictions for a Cobb-Douglas matching function with increasing returns to scale are rather restrictive, involving an upper bound to future expected profits and the number of job searchers. In contrast, for functional forms with constant returns to scale (Cobb-Douglas, CES) the restrictions involve only parameters or an upper bound to the future expected profits. The paper also investigates when a job-finding rate (vacancy filling rate) below one can restrict the vacancy filling rate (job-finding rate) to be below and strictly bounded away from one. We provide the bounds implied by these 'interior equilibria.