Search Results
Author: Lu, Chenyan
Resulting in 1 citation.
| 1. |
Lu, Chenyan |
|
Essays on Labor Economics Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) Keyword(s): Economic Changes/Recession; Job Search; Occupational Choice; Occupational Information Network (O*NET); Skills; Wage Growth Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. This dissertation has two self-contained chapters in labor economics. In the first chapter, I exploit variation in job arrival rates due to the recession in the early 1980s to understand the relative importance of three main channels--skill accumulation, search, and learning--to an individual's lifetime wage growth, and analyze how these channels interact. Specifically, I construct and estimate a model of on-the-job search, dynamic wage growth, and occupational choice using data from the NLSY79 and O*NET. In my model, workers are heterogeneous in initial cognitive and manual skills, while jobs differ by how intensively these skills are used. Over time, workers sort into occupations for which they are well suited by searching either on the job or off the job as they learn about their comparative advantages and accumulate skills. The estimated model shows that, first, all three channels are important in explaining life-cycle wage growth. Second, the interactions of the three components also play a significant role in life-cycle wage growth. Finally, I use my estimated model to understand the persistent wage losses of individuals who graduate during a recession. I find that skill accumulation, both alone and interacted with the other two channels, is the primary contributor to the long-term effect. |
|
|
Bibliography Citation
Lu, Chenyan. Essays on Labor Economics. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016. |