Search Results

Author: Polachek, Solomon W.
Resulting in 22 citations.
1. Hofler, Richard A.
Polachek, Solomon W.
A New Approach for Measuring Wage Ignorance in the Labor Market
Journal of Economics and Business 37,3 (August 1985): 267-276.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0148619585900220
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: Temple University Press
Keyword(s): Education; Job Search; Racial Equality/Inequality; Rural/Urban Differences; Unions; Urban and Regional Planning; Wages; Work Experience

A new econometric approach is presented for the evaluation of information content within labor markets. Ignorance is defined as the difference between the wage (price) individuals earn (pay) with complete information and the wage (price) they actually receive (pay) given their limited information stocks. A frontier production function approach is employed to measure ignorance for various markets. Data were obtained from the NLS of Older Men and was limited to those subjects employed in 1971 and meeting other criteria, leaving a sample of 219 men. The empirical results are highly consistent with the analytic results of search theory. Specifically, labor market ignorance appears to be greater among blacks than whites, greater in rural than urban areas, and greater among those with more risk aversion, higher opportunity costs of search, and lower levels of education and job experience. In addition, union membership is found to drastically reduce labor market ignorance, suggesting a new interpretation of the role of unions.
Bibliography Citation
Hofler, Richard A. and Solomon W. Polachek. "A New Approach for Measuring Wage Ignorance in the Labor Market." Journal of Economics and Business 37,3 (August 1985): 267-276.
2. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Padilla, Arthur H.
Polachek, Solomon W.
Racial Differences in Earnings Over the Business Cycle
Presented: Chicago, IL, Econometric Society Meetings, 1978
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: Econometric Society
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Earnings; Schooling; Unemployment

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article focuses on the use of the error components model to measure the effect of labor market conditions on rate-of-return differentials between races. The statistical procedure used in this study measures business activity by the unemployment rate. In an earnings equation, the interaction between schooling and unemployment rate variables show that schooling rates of return declined as business conditions worsened for blacks.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Arthur H. Padilla and Solomon W. Polachek. "Racial Differences in Earnings Over the Business Cycle." Presented: Chicago, IL, Econometric Society Meetings, 1978.
3. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Padilla, Arthur H.
Polachek, Solomon W.
The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle
Journal of Human Resources 13,2 (Spring 1978): 264-277.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145361
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Business Cycles; Educational Returns; Employment; School Quality; Schooling; Wages

This study illustrates two avenues through which the business cycle affects the rate of return to schooling. The results show that the degree to which the increased relative black rate of return is attributable to comparative gains in school quality may be overstated. Evidence shows that the relative rate of return for young whites is directly related to the incidence of unemployment.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Arthur H. Padilla and Solomon W. Polachek. "The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle." Journal of Human Resources 13,2 (Spring 1978): 264-277.
4. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Polachek, Solomon W.
Padilla, Arthur H.
The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle: Additional Estimates
Journal of Human Resources 15,2 (Spring 1980): 273-277.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145336
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Earnings; Educational Returns; Schooling; Unemployment

The central purpose of this paper is to illustrate that the business cycle disturbs relative black/white rates of return. This is demonstrated in two ways. First, the authors make note that King's rate of return estimates support the hypothesis that blacks fare relatively poorly in times of high unemployment. Secondly, evidence is presented which corroborates original findings from an earnings function estimated with panel data.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Solomon W. Polachek and Arthur H. Padilla. "The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle: Additional Estimates." Journal of Human Resources 15,2 (Spring 1980): 273-277.
5. Mincer, Jacob
Polachek, Solomon W.
An Exchange: The Theory of Human Capital and the Earnings of Women: Women's Earnings Reexamined
Journal of Human Resources 13,1 (Winter 1978): 118-134.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145305
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Children; Simultaneity; Unemployment; Wages; Wives; Work Experience

Sandell and Saunders find three blemishes in our earlier study: (1) that some of the original data made available to us by the Center for Human Resource Research (their own organization) is incorrect; (2) that we misinterpret the coefficients of our own model; and (3) that their treatment of the simultaneity problem is preferable to ours and yields somewhat different coefficients. We respond to these points in order. In discussing data errors and replications under point (1), we extend the evidence to related work by others and introduce new and more direct evidence from the NLS of Mature Women 1967-1971 panel. Points (2) and (3) are restricted to the methodological and conceptual issues raised about our treatment of the 1967 sample.
Bibliography Citation
Mincer, Jacob and Solomon W. Polachek. "An Exchange: The Theory of Human Capital and the Earnings of Women: Women's Earnings Reexamined." Journal of Human Resources 13,1 (Winter 1978): 118-134.
6. Mincer, Jacob
Polachek, Solomon W.
Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women
Journal of Political Economy 82,2 (March-April 1974): S78-S108.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1829993
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Children; Family Background and Culture; Fertility; First Birth; Human Capital Theory; Schooling; Wage Gap; Work Experience; Work History

Our data on work histories show some interesting trends which suggest a prospective narrowing of the wage differential. Women aged 40-44 who had their first child in the late 1940s stayed out of the labor force about 5 years longer than women aged 30-34 whose first child was born in the late 1950s. Family size is about the same for both groups, but higher for the middle group (35-39) whose fertility marked the peak of the baby boom. Still, the home-time interval in that group is shorter (by about 2 years) than in the older group and longer in the younger. Thus, the trend in labor-force participation of young mothers was persistent. By the time the 30-34- year-old women get to be 40-44 (i. e. , in 1977), they will have had 4 years of work experience more than the older cohort, and their wage rates will rise by 6 percent on account of lesser depreciation and by another 2-4 percent due to longer work experience. Thus, the total observed wage gap between men and women aged 40-44 should narrow by about one-fifth, while the gap due to work experience should be reduced by one-quarter.
Bibliography Citation
Mincer, Jacob and Solomon W. Polachek. "Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women." Journal of Political Economy 82,2 (March-April 1974): S78-S108.
7. Polachek, Solomon W.
Discontinuous Labor Force Participation and Its Effect on Women's Market Earnings
In: Sex, Discrimination, and the Division of Labor. CB Lloyd, ed. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1975
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Keyword(s): Discrimination; Discrimination, Sex; Job Training; Labor Force Participation; Occupational Segregation; Sex Roles; Sexual Division of Labor; Wage Gap; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper reports on the male/female wage differential and the reasons for its existence. One can conclude from the results neither that the "unexplained" portion of the wage gap is attributable to discrimination, nor, for that matter, that the "explained" portion is not affected by discrimination. That is, if a distinction were made between direct discrimination (the payment of differing wage rates for the same work) and indirect discrimination (the subtle socialization process of the division of labor within the household, which discourages most women from making a complete commitment to the labor market), we would find that the "unexplained" wage gap is an upper limit of direct discrimination, while the total wage gap is a reflection of discrimination in its indirect form. If the division of labor within the family is equated with discrimination, then no studies of wage differentials would be necessary because all differentials would, by definition, be caused by discrimination. The importance of continuous work experience as the major causal factor determining male-female wage differentials must be emphasized. The fact that females are, on the average, out of the labor force over ten years causes a decline in their initial human capital investment as well as a depreciation of already existing earnings potential. The result of this discontinuous labor force participation is that females both enter occupations requiring lesser amounts of training and train less even when in professions typified by much on-the-job training. As a result, we observe females being overrepresented in lower-paying occupations while also receiving lower pay in the higher-paying professions.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Discontinuous Labor Force Participation and Its Effect on Women's Market Earnings" In: Sex, Discrimination, and the Division of Labor. CB Lloyd, ed. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1975
8. Polachek, Solomon W.
Heterogeneity in the Labor Market: Ability and Information Acquisition
Eastern Economic Journal 43,3 (June 2017): 377-390.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41302-017-0096-z
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Bargaining Model; Heterogeneity; Human Capital; Life Cycle Research; Skill Depreciation; Skills; Wage Theory

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper relates five previously unobserved individual attributes (namely, three measures of ability based on the lifecycle human capital model, a rate of time preference, and a skill depreciation rate) to estimates of worker and firm incomplete labor market information for 1539 NLS-Y respondents. First, it finds more able employees obtain more information (or bargain better) about wages than their less able counterparts, whereas firms obtain relatively more information (or bargain better) when dealing with low ability workers. Second, it finds that workers whose skills depreciate more quickly possess less wage information (or bargain more poorly) than workers whose skills depreciate less quickly. Similarly, it finds employees with a greater time discount rates have less wage information (or bargain more poorly) than those employees with lower discount rates.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Heterogeneity in the Labor Market: Ability and Information Acquisition." Eastern Economic Journal 43,3 (June 2017): 377-390.
9. Polachek, Solomon W.
Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap
Population Research and Policy Review 6,1 (1987): 47-67.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/m17804112205mh17/
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Keyword(s): Discrimination; Discrimination, Sex; Dual Economic Theory; Family Constraints; Human Capital; Human Capital Theory; Occupational Segregation; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper examines the role of occupational segregation in determining gender wage differentials. Utilizing data from the NLS of Mature Women, it was found that: (1) Earnings regressions using sex composition (as measured by percent female within a given occupation) as an independent variable indicate that occupational segregation is unimportant in explaining wage differentials by sex. Traditional human capital variables play more of a role in explaining the wage gap. (2) The 'percent female' variable is inappropriate for use in testing human capital implications in the context of the earnings functions. and (3) Lifetime work consideration, such as the degree of labor force intermittency, are important in determining occupation and wage.Implications for governmental anti- discrimination policies are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap." Population Research and Policy Review 6,1 (1987): 47-67.
10. Polachek, Solomon W.
Occupational Segregation: A Defense of Human Capital Predictions
Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1982
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Sex; Human Capital Theory; Life Cycle Research; Occupational Segregation; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this paper, the evidence presented on questions posed by Beller ("Occupational Segregation by Sex: Determinants and Changes," Journal of Human Resources, Spring, l982) and by England ("The Failure of Human Capital to Explain Occupational Sex Segregation," Journal of Human Resources, Spring l98l) is reviewed in an attempt to determine whether, as these authors allege, their evidence refutes the human capital explanation of the sex wage differential. It is found that both papers are consistent with neoclassical predictions. Specifically it is shown: (1) that England's findings are consistent with the neoclassical expectation that occupational segregation plays less of a role in explaining the wage differential than do traditional human capital variables; (2) that while earnings profiles generated with data that include a measure of occupational segregation are not ideal for testing human capital predictions, these profiles nonetheless yield parameters consistent with neoclassical theory; (3) that Beller's claim that economy-wide discrimination is so extensive that it dwarfs human capital effects is unfounded, and that, on the contrary, the evidence she presents is entirely consistent with the life cycle expectations model of occupational choice; and (4) that recasting England's assertions in multivariable regression form yields findings consistent with those of existing neoclassically- based studies.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Occupational Segregation: A Defense of Human Capital Predictions." Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1982.
11. Polachek, Solomon W.
Occupational Segregation: A Human Capital Approach
Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1977
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Sex; Human Capital Theory; Occupational Segregation; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Currently human capital models are applied almost exclusively to explain earnings distribution. These models have been severely criticized because of their failure to explain existing occupational patterns. This paper introduces the concept of heterogeneous human capital so that optimal kinds as well as amounts of human capital can be determined. Inferences concerning occupational structure are derived by assuming that each occupation entails the use of a different kind of human capital. The model is applied to analyze occupational segregation by sex. It is found that if women were to have a full lifetime labor force attachment, then human capital considerations would dictate a 35 percent increase in the number of women professionals, a more than doubling of the number of women in managerial professions, and a diminution of the number of women in menial occupations in excess of 25 percent. These results for the first time indicate the potential strength of the human capital model in explaining occupational segregation by sex.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Occupational Segregation: A Human Capital Approach." Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1977.
12. Polachek, Solomon W.
Occupational Segregation: An Alternative Hypothesis
Journal of Contemporary Business (Winter 1976): 1-12
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Periodicals Service Company and Schmidt Periodicals GmbH
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Discrimination, Job; Discrimination, Sex; Educational Attainment; Occupational Segregation; Occupations, Female; Skill Depreciation

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study focuses on the occupational position of women, posing a theory based on supply differences within the labor market. The author claims that forces besides those of market discrimination in part account for differences in occupational distribution. Females out of the labor force for extended periods of time tend to have menial occupations whereas females with little time out of the labor force tend to have professional and managerial jobs. Corroborative evidence is presented, which indicates that sex differences begin within the educational system. Most importantly, governmental policy implications are also presented.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Occupational Segregation: An Alternative Hypothesis." Journal of Contemporary Business (Winter 1976): 1-12.
13. Polachek, Solomon W.
Occupational Self-Selection: A Human Capital Approach to Sex Differences in Occupational Structure
Review of Economics and Statistics 63,1 (February 1981): 60-69.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1924218
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Sex; Human Capital Theory; Occupational Status; Occupations, Female

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The purpose of this paper is to alleviate some of the criticism of the human capital model by applying the hedonic price approach so as to embed occupational choice into the human capital framework. The significance is that neoclassical economic theory can be used to obtain implications concerning the determinants of occupational structure. The model outlined in this paper is in part designed to shed light on the question of why within most societies women are by and large relegated to different occupations than men.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Occupational Self-Selection: A Human Capital Approach to Sex Differences in Occupational Structure." Review of Economics and Statistics 63,1 (February 1981): 60-69.
14. Polachek, Solomon W.
Potential Biases in Measuring Male-Female Discrimination
Journal of Human Resources 10,2 (Spring 1975): 205-229.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/144827
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Children; Discrimination, Sex; Earnings; Earnings, Husbands; Family Resources; Life Cycle Research; Marital Status; Marriage; Sexual Division of Labor; Wives, Income

By addressing the problem of life-cycle division of labor within the family, this study considers the question of the effect of family characteristics on both male and female earnings capacities. The paper illustrates both theoretically and empirically that being married and having children have opposite effects on the wage rates of husbands and wives, and further that these diverging wage patterns are perpetuated over the length of the marriage. Neglecting the fact that family characteristics have opposite effects on male and female wage structures leads to biases in the computation of the male-female discrimination coefficient.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Potential Biases in Measuring Male-Female Discrimination." Journal of Human Resources 10,2 (Spring 1975): 205-229.
15. Polachek, Solomon W.
Secular Changes in Female Job Aspirations
In: Retirement Policy in an Aging Society. RL Clark, ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1980
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Duke University Press
Keyword(s): Earnings; Employment; Income Dynamics/Shocks; Job Aspirations; Life Cycle Research; Marital Status; Schooling; Work History

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This chapter examines only the impact of increased female labor force participation on the occupational aspirations of women, so as to predict changes in women's occupational distributions. A model was postulated illustrating the importance of continuous life-cycle labor force participation on occupational choice.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Secular Changes in Female Job Aspirations" In: Retirement Policy in an Aging Society. RL Clark, ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1980
16. Polachek, Solomon W.
Simultaneous Equations Models of Sex Discrimination
In: Income Inequality: Trends and International Comparisons. J. Morony, ed. Lexington, MA: DC Heath and Company, 1979
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: DC Heath and Company
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Sex; Life Cycle Research; Marital Status; Research Methodology; Schooling; Simultaneity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

To answer questions regarding the identifiability of sex differences, both the labor market (governing wages and occupations) as well as the human capital market (governing educational choices and on-the-job training) are analyzed separately, within simultaneous equation settings. While the author finds sex differences in levels of labor market experience and education, human capital differences may themselves stem from discrimination either in the human capital market or in expectations of sex discrimination in the labor market.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Simultaneous Equations Models of Sex Discrimination" In: Income Inequality: Trends and International Comparisons. J. Morony, ed. Lexington, MA: DC Heath and Company, 1979
17. Polachek, Solomon W.
Why the Gender Gap in Wages Narrowed in the 1980s
Journal of Labor Economics 11,1 (January 1993): 205-228.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2535190
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Benefits, Fringe; Income Dynamics/Shocks; Labor Market Surveys; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Schooling; Wage Differentials; Wages, Men; Wages, Women; Work Experience

Since 1976, the gender gap in wages on average declined about one percent per year. This article focuses on identifying the factors underlying this trend. Three data sets are analyzed--the Current Population Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the National Longitudinal Survey. The authors find that convergence in measurable work-related characteristics (schooling and work experience) explains one-third to one-half the narrowing. The remainder is attributable to a relative increase in women's returns to experience as well as to declining wages in blue-collar work and other factors.
Bibliography Citation
and Solomon W. Polachek. "Why the Gender Gap in Wages Narrowed in the 1980s." Journal of Labor Economics 11,1 (January 1993): 205-228.
18. Polachek, Solomon W.
Women in the Economy: Perspectives on Gender Inequality
In: Comparable Work Issues for the 80s, Volume 1. U.S. Civil Rights Commission, ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1984: pp. 34-53
Cohort(s): Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Keyword(s): Affirmative Action; Behavior; Discrimination; Discrimination, Sex; Dual Economic Theory; Earnings; Government Regulation; Occupational Segregation; Sexual Division of Labor; Work Attachment

This paper provides a survey of current literature on gender differences in economic well-being. The conclusions are: (1) Gender occupational segregation exists in that differences are apparent in the occupational patterns of men and women. However, sex differences in occupational distribution are incapable of explaining gender wage differentials. In fact, occupational segregation explains only about 15 percent of gender wage differences, though most studies yield an even smaller explanatory power. (2) Human capital theory provides the most robust explanation of gender differences in economic well-being. Primitive versions of the human capital approach explain up to 60 percent of the wage gap. More comprehensive versions can explain the entire gap. (3) Human capital theory can also be used to explain occupational segregation. Results of on going empirical work seem to indicate that if women were to work continuously, the number of women in managerial jobs would double, and the number of women in menial service-type jobs would diminish by 25 percent. (4) Discrimination takes two forms: societal and market. Societal discrimination evolves through societal preconditioning as well as through existing legislation that creates implicit marriage taxes. Both cause a division of labor within the home, forcing husbands to specialize in market activities and wives to specialize in household activities. Market discrimination evolves not because the market cannot work, but because the market is often not permitted to work. Regulatory forces restricting market competition create incentives for inefficient behavior, one form of which is discrimination.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Women in the Economy: Perspectives on Gender Inequality" In: Comparable Work Issues for the 80s, Volume 1. U.S. Civil Rights Commission, ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1984: pp. 34-53
19. Polachek, Solomon W.
Das, Tirthatanmoy
Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat
Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital
IZA Discussion Paper No. 7335, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), April 2013.
Also: http://ftp.iza.org/dp7335.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Earnings; Human Capital; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Racial Differences; Self-Esteem; Skill Depreciation; Socioeconomic Background

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We derive a tractable nonlinear earnings function which we estimate separately for each individual in the NLSY79 data. These estimates yield five important parameters for each individual: three ability measures (two representing the ability to learn and one the ability to earn), a rate of skill depreciation, and a time discount rate. In addition, we obtain a population wide estimate of the rental rate of human capital. To illustrate heterogeneity in the production of human capital, we plot the distribution of these parameters along with NLSY79 reported AFQT scores. By utilizing these parameters, we are able to verify a number of heretofore untested theorems based on the life-cycle human capital model. In addition, we are able to show how these human capital production function parameters relate to cognitive ability, personality traits, and family background. Among our results, we find: Black-white differences in ability are smaller than those exhibited in standardized tests. Blacks have higher time discount and skill depreciation rates than whites. Individuals with higher time discount rates and greater rates of skill depreciation have fewer years of school. Individuals with both a high internal locus of control and self-esteem exhibit greater ability, lower skill depreciation, and smaller time discount rates. Individuals inclined towards depression have higher time discount rates. Agreeable, open, conscientious and extrovert individuals have a greater ability to learn but not necessarily a greater ability to earn. Neurotic individuals have a lower ability to learn. Higher parental education is associated with a greater ability to learn, lower skill depreciation, and a smaller time discount rate. Educational stimuli, such as growing up in a household that subscribed to magazines, are associated with higher ability. Conversely, growing up poor is associated with lower ability.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W., Tirthatanmoy Das and Rewat Thamma-Apiroam. "Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital." IZA Discussion Paper No. 7335, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), April 2013.
20. Polachek, Solomon W.
Das, Tirthatanmoy
Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat
Micro- and Macroeconomic Implications of Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital
Journal of Political Economy 123,6 (December 2015): 1410-1455.
Also: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/683989
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Family Background and Culture; Heterogeneity; Human Capital; Personality/Big Five Factor Model or Traits; Skill Depreciation

We derive a tractable nonlinear earnings function that we estimate separately individual by individual using NLSY79 data. We obtain three ability measures, a rate of skill depreciation, a time discount rate, and a population-wide estimate of the human capital rental rate. We utilize these parameters to verify a number of heretofore untested theorems based on the life cycle model. We show how these human capital production function parameters relate to cognitive ability, personality traits, and family background. Finally, we show that accounting for individual-specific heterogeneity dramatically reduces estimates of population-wide persistence of permanent and transitory shocks by over 50 percent.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W., Tirthatanmoy Das and Rewat Thamma-Apiroam. "Micro- and Macroeconomic Implications of Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital." Journal of Political Economy 123,6 (December 2015): 1410-1455.
21. Polachek, Solomon W.
Hofler, Richard A.
Employee Ignorance in the Labor Market
Mimeo, State University of New York - Binghamton, 1989
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: State University of New York - Binghamton
Keyword(s): Earnings; Gender Differences; Geographical Variation; Job Search; Racial Differences; Unemployment; Unemployment Compensation; Unions; Urban and Regional Planning

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Frontier production function estimation techniques are used to estimate two-error component earnings functions for various population strata. The first error component can be interpreted as being purely random. Across-strata differences in the second error component are interpreted to reflect interstrata employee differences in labor market wage information. Using data from the PSID and NLS, the authors find blacks and females to have less information than white males, urban employees to have more information than rural workers, unemployment insurance (UI) beneficiaries to have an information advantage over non-UI recipients, and union members to have more information than nonmembers.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. and Richard A. Hofler. "Employee Ignorance in the Labor Market." Mimeo, State University of New York - Binghamton, 1989.
22. Polachek, Solomon W.
Robst, John Michael
Employee Labor Market Information: Comparing Direct World of Work Measures of Workers' Knowledge to Stochastic Frontier Estimates
Labour Economics 5,2 (June 1998): 231-242.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537197000304
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Benefits; Benefits, Fringe; Training; Wage Differentials; Wage Levels

A number of papers use stochastic frontier estimation to measure a worker's incomplete information about available wages. These papers define incomplete information as the difference between a worker's wage and his or her maximum potential wage. Many question this approach since it essentially measures incomplete information as a residual, without independent evidence relating this residual to incomplete information. This paper introduces independent direct measures of workers' knowledge of the world of work obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men (NLSYM). Frontier estimates of incomplete information are compared to the direct measures of workers' knowledge. The results verify that stochastic frontier estimates provide a reasonable measure of a worker's incomplete wage information.
Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. and John Michael Robst. "Employee Labor Market Information: Comparing Direct World of Work Measures of Workers' Knowledge to Stochastic Frontier Estimates." Labour Economics 5,2 (June 1998): 231-242.