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Source: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Resulting in 16 citations.
1. Altonji, Joseph G.
Pierret, Charles R.
Employer Learning and Statistical Discrimination
Quarterly Journal of Economics 116,1 (February 2001): 313-350.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/116/1/313.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Employer; Education; Racial Differences; Wages

We show that if firms statistically discriminate among young workers on the basis of easily observable characteristics such as education, then as firms learn about productivity, the coefficients on the easily observed variables should fall, and the coefficients on hard-to-observe correlates of productivity should rise. We find support for this proposition using NLSY79 data on education, the AFQT test, father's education, and wages for young men and their siblings. We find little evidence for statistical discrimination in wages on the basis of race. Our analysis has a wide range of applications in the labor market and elsewhere. See also: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=3D348EF6-21E0-4F3D-BC20-894E50FBE564&ttype=6&tid=567
Bibliography Citation
Altonji, Joseph G. and Charles R. Pierret. "Employer Learning and Statistical Discrimination." Quarterly Journal of Economics 116,1 (February 2001): 313-350.
2. Blackburn, McKinley L.
Neumark, David B.
Unobserved Ability, Efficiency Wages, and Interindustry Wage Differentials
Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1421-1436.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/4/1421.full.pdf+html
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Men
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials

An important area of research on the empirical validity of efficiency wage theory has focused on the role of industry effects in explaining variation in wages across workers. In this paper we test the unobserved ability explanation of interindustry and interoccupation wage differentials by explicitly incorporating measures of unobserved ability into wage regressions. The procedure we use may be an improvement over past attempts to account for unobserved ability using standard first difference estimators, since it is less likely to suffer from biases due to measurement error or selectivity. The major limitation of our approach is that we cannot control for variation in ability that is not reflected in the test scores that we use as indicators of ability. Our empirical results imply that interindustry and interoccupation wage differentials are, for the most part, not attributable to variation in unobserved labor quality or ability. Our estimates indicate that just over one tenth of the variation in interindustry wage differentials, and less than one fourth of the variation in interoccupation wage differentials, reflect differences in unobserved ability.
Bibliography Citation
Blackburn, McKinley L. and David B. Neumark. "Unobserved Ability, Efficiency Wages, and Interindustry Wage Differentials." Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1421-1436.
3. Blau, Francine D.
Graham, John W.
Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition
Quarterly Journal of Economics 105,2 (May 1990): 321-339.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/105/2/321.abstract
Cohort(s): Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Assets; Income; Racial Differences; Transfers, Family; Wealth

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

Racial differences in the magnitude and composition of wealth are examined using data from the 1976 and 1978 NLS of Young Men and Young Women. On average, it is found that: (1) young black families hold 18% of the wealth of young white families; and (2) these black families hold their wealth in proportionately different forms. Blacks share a variety of characteristics that may lower their net worth relative to whites, including lower income and such demographic factors as a higher incidence of central city residence and families with single heads. The income difference is found to be the largest single factor explaining racial differences in wealth. However, even after controlling for income and other demographic factors, as much as 3/4 of the wealth gap remains. The causes of these differences are explored. It is concluded that racial differences in intergenerational transfers and, to a lesser extent, barriers to the accumulation of business and home equity most likely play a role. [ABI/INFORM]
Bibliography Citation
Blau, Francine D. and John W. Graham. "Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition." Quarterly Journal of Economics 105,2 (May 1990): 321-339.
4. Borjas, George J.
Ethnic Capital and Intergenerational Mobility
Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,1 (February 1992): 123-150.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/1/123.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Ethnic Groups/Ethnicity; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Labor Market Outcomes; Mobility; Parental Influences

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

The relationship between ethnicity and intergenerational mobility is examined. The main hypothesis is that ethnicity acts as an externality in the production function for human capital. In particular, the quality of the ethnic environment in which a person is raised, called ethnic capital, influences the skills and labor market outcomes of the children. To assess the importance of ethnic capital, data from the General Social Surveys and the NLSY were examined. The empirical evidence shows that ethnic capital plays a major role in intergenerational mobility. The skills and labor market outcomes of today's generation depend on the skills and labor market experiences both of their parents and of the ethnic group in the parents' generation. Second, the introduction of ethnic capital into the analysis shows that there is much more persistence of skills and earnings capacity across generations than is generally believed. [ABI/INFORM]
Bibliography Citation
Borjas, George J. "Ethnic Capital and Intergenerational Mobility." Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,1 (February 1992): 123-150.
5. Brown, Charles
Equalizing Differences in the Labor Market
Quarterly Journal of Economics 94,1 (February 1980): 113-134.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/94/1/113.abstract
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Job Tenure; Marital Status; Public Sector; Unions; Vocational Training; Wages; Work Knowledge

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

The theory of equalizing differences asserts that workers receive compensating wage premiums when they accept jobs with undesirable nonwage characteristics, holding the worker's characteristics constant. Previous research provides only inconsistent support for the theory, with wrong-signed or insignificant estimates of these wage premiums fairly common. An oftcited reason for these anomalies is that important characteristics of the worker remain unmeasured, biasing the estimates. In this paper, longitudinal data are used to test this conjecture. Although such data improve the control for worker characteristics, the plausibility of the estimates is not markedly improved. Alternative explanations for these results are considered.
Bibliography Citation
Brown, Charles. "Equalizing Differences in the Labor Market." Quarterly Journal of Economics 94,1 (February 1980): 113-134.
6. Butcher, Kristin F.
Case, Anne
The Effect of Sibling Sex Composition on Women's Education and Earnings
Quarterly Journal of Economics 109,3 (August 1994): 531-563.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/109/3/531.abstract
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Brothers; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Economics of Discrimination; Economics of Gender; Economics of Minorities; Economics, Demographic; Human Capital; Labor Market Demographics; Occupational Choice; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Siblings; Training, Occupational; Training, On-the-Job

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

This paper documents the impact of siblings on the education of men and women born in the United States between 1920 and 1965. We examine the effect of the number and sex composition of a boy or girl's siblings on that child's educational attainment. We find that throughout the century women's educational choices have been systematically affected by the sex composition of her siblings, and that men's choices have not. Women raised only with brothers have received on average significantly more education than women raised with any sisters, controlling for household size. Since sibling sex composition affects women's educational attainmentand plausibly may be unrelated to other determinants of earnings, it may provide a useful instrument for education in earnings functions for women. Our results suggest that standard estimates significantly underestimate the return to schooling for women.
Bibliography Citation
Butcher, Kristin F. and Anne Case. "The Effect of Sibling Sex Composition on Women's Education and Earnings." Quarterly Journal of Economics 109,3 (August 1994): 531-563.
7. Deming, David
The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market
Quarterly Journal of Economics 4,1 (November 2017): 1593-1640.
Also: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/132/4/1593/3861633#96326149
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Noncognitive Skills; Occupational Information Network (O*NET); Sociability/Socialization/Social Interaction; Wages

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

The labor market increasingly rewards social skills. Between 1980 and 2012, jobs requiring high levels of social interaction grew by nearly 12 percentage points as a share of the U.S. labor force. Math-intensive but less social jobs--including many STEM occupations--shrank by 3.3 percentage points over the same period. Employment and wage growth were particularly strong for jobs requiring high levels of both math skill and social skills. To understand these patterns, I develop a model of team production where workers "trade tasks" to exploit their comparative advantage. In the model, social skills reduce coordination costs, allowing workers to specialize and work together more efficiently. The model generates predictions about sorting and the relative returns to skill across occupations, which I investigate using data from the NLSY79 and the NLSY97. Using a comparable set of skill measures and covariates across survey waves, I find that the labor market return to social skills was much greater in the 2000s than in the mid-1980s and 1990s.
Bibliography Citation
Deming, David. "The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market." Quarterly Journal of Economics 4,1 (November 2017): 1593-1640.
8. Farber, Henry S.
Gibbons, Robert
Learning and Wage Dynamics
Quarterly Journal of Economics 111,4 (November 1996): 1007-1047.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/111/4/1007.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Benefits, Fringe; Human Capital; Job Tenure; Job Training; Labor Economics; Labor Market, Secondary; Modeling; Schooling; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Training, Occupational; Training, On-the-Job; Wage Differentials; Wage Levels

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

The authors develop a dynamic model of learning about worker ability in a competitive labor market. The model produces three testable implications regarding wage dynamics: (1) although the role of schooling in the labor market's inference process declines as performance observations accumulate, the estimated effect of schooling on the level of wages is independent of labor-market experience; (2) time invariant variables correlated with ability but unobserved by employers (such as certain test scores) are increasingly correlated with wages as experience increases; and (3) wage residuals are a martingale. The authors present evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that is broadly consistent with the model's predictions.
Bibliography Citation
Farber, Henry S. and Robert Gibbons. "Learning and Wage Dynamics." Quarterly Journal of Economics 111,4 (November 1996): 1007-1047.
9. Freeman, Richard B.
The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits, and Separations
Quarterly Journal of Economics 94,4 (June 1980): 643- 673.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/94/4/643.abstract
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Exits; Growth Curves; Job Tenure; Racial Differences; Unions

This paper examines the effect of trade unionism on the exit behavior of workers in the context of Hirschman's exit-voice dichotomy. Unionism is expected to reduce quits and permanent separations and raise job tenure by providing a "voice" alternative to exit when workers are dissatisfied with conditions. Empirical evidence supports this contention, showing significantly lower exit for unionists in several large data tapes. It is argued that the grievance system plays a major role in the reduction in exit and that the reduction lowers cost and raises productivity.
Bibliography Citation
Freeman, Richard B. "The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits, and Separations." Quarterly Journal of Economics 94,4 (June 1980): 643- 673.
10. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered
Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1187-1214.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/4/1187.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Birthweight; Childbearing, Adolescent; Heterogeneity; Household Composition; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Siblings

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

Teen childbearing is commonly believed to cause long-term socioeconomic disadvantages for mothers and their children. However, earlier cross-sectional studies may have inadequately accounted for marked differences in family background among women who have first births at different ages. We present new estimates that take into account unmeasured fa background heterogeneity by comparing sisters who timed their first births at different ages. In two of the three sets we examine, sister comparisons suggest that biases from family background heterogeneity are important, and, therefore, that earlier studies may have overstated the consequences of teen childbearing.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered." Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1187-1214.
11. Gruber, Jonathan
Hungerman, Daniel M.
The Church versus the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition?
Quarterly Journal of Economics 123,2 (May 2008): 831-862.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/123/2/831.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Drug Use; Legislation; Religion; Religious Influences; State-Level Data/Policy

Recently economists have begun to consider the causes and consequences of religious participation. An unanswered question in this literature is the effect upon individuals of changes in the opportunity cost of religious participation. In this paper, we identify a policy-driven change in the opportunity cost of religious participation based on state laws that prohibit retail activity on Sunday, known as "blue laws." Many states have repealed these laws in recent years, raising the opportunity cost of religious participation. We use a variety of data sets to show that when a state repeals its blue laws religious attendance falls and that church donations and spending fall as well. These results do not seem to be driven by declines in religiosity prior to the law change, nor do we see comparable declines in membership in or giving to nonreligious organizations after a state repeals its laws. We then assess the effects of changes in these laws on drinking and drug use behavior in the NLSY. We find that repealing blue laws leads to an increase in drinking and drug use and that this increase is found only among the initially religious individuals who were affected by the blue laws. The effect is economically significant; for example, the gap in heavy drinking between religious and nonreligious individuals falls by about half after the laws are repealed.
Bibliography Citation
Gruber, Jonathan and Daniel M. Hungerman. "The Church versus the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition?" Quarterly Journal of Economics 123,2 (May 2008): 831-862.
12. Hamermesh, Daniel S.
Changing Inequality in Markets for Workplace Amenities
Quarterly Journal of Economics 114,4 (November 1999): 1085-1124.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/114/4/1085.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Earnings; Injuries; Wage Differentials

Among U.S. industries where earnings rose relatively from 1979-1995, injury rates declined relatively. Obversely, during the 1960s narrowing interindustry wage differentials were associated with an increase in the relative risk of injury in high-wage industries. Evidence from the NLSY suggests similar results among full-time workers between 1988 and 1996. Between 1973 and 1991 the disamenity of evening/night work was increasingly borne by low-wage male workers. Changing earnings inequality has understated changing inequality in the returns to work. Assuming skill-neutral changes in the cost of reducing these disamenities, estimates of the implied income elasticities of demand for amenities are well above unity.
Bibliography Citation
Hamermesh, Daniel S. "Changing Inequality in Markets for Workplace Amenities." Quarterly Journal of Economics 114,4 (November 1999): 1085-1124.
13. Levine, Ross
Rubinstein, Yona
Smart and Illicit: Who Becomes an Entrepreneur and Do They Earn More?
Quarterly Journal of Economics 132,2 (May 2017): 963-1018.
Also: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/qje/qjw044
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Earnings; Entrepreneurship; Illegal Activities; Occupational Aspirations; Occupational Choice; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Self-Employed Workers

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

We disaggregate the self-employed into incorporated and unincorporated to distinguish between "entrepreneurs" and other business owners. We show that the incorporated self-employed and their businesses engage in activities that demand comparatively strong nonroutine cognitive abilities, while the unincorporated and their firms perform tasks demanding relatively strong manual skills. People who become incorporated business owners tend to be more educated and--as teenagers--score higher on learning aptitude tests, exhibit greater self-esteem, and engage in more illicit activities than others. The combination of "smart" and "illicit" tendencies as youths accounts for both entry into entrepreneurship and the comparative earnings of entrepreneurs. Individuals tend to experience a material increase in earnings when becoming entrepreneurs, and this increase occurs at each decile of the distribution.
Bibliography Citation
Levine, Ross and Yona Rubinstein. "Smart and Illicit: Who Becomes an Entrepreneur and Do They Earn More?" Quarterly Journal of Economics 132,2 (May 2017): 963-1018.
14. Mulligan, Casey B.
Rubinstein, Yona
Selection, Investment, and Women's Relative Wages over Time
Quarterly Journal of Economics 123,3 (August 2008): 1061-1110.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/123/3/1061.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Gender Differences; I.Q.; Skills; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap; Wage Growth; Wages, Women

In theory, growing wage inequality within gender should cause women to invest more in their market productivity and should differentially pull able women into the workforce. Our paper uses Heckman's two-step estimator and identification at infinity on repeated Current Population Survey cross sections to calculate relative wage series for women since 1970 that hold constant the composition of skills. We find that selection into the female full-time full-year workforce shifted from negative in the 1970s to positive in the 1990s, and that the majority of the apparent narrowing of the gender wage gap reflects changes in female workforce composition. We find the same types of composition changes by measuring husbands' wages and National Longitudinal Survey IQ data as proxies for unobserved skills. Our findings help to explain why growing wage equality between genders coincided with growing inequality within gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Mulligan, Casey B. and Yona Rubinstein. "Selection, Investment, and Women's Relative Wages over Time." Quarterly Journal of Economics 123,3 (August 2008): 1061-1110.
15. Parsons, Donald O.
Intergenerational Wealth Transfers and the Educational Decisions of Male Youth
Quarterly Journal of Economics 89,4 (November 1975): 603-617.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/89/4/603.abstract
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Educational Returns; Family Resources; Income Distribution; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Schooling; Transfers, Wealth

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

Results strongly document Knight's assertion about the effect of social institutions, particularly the family, on income distribution. Both the quantity and productivity of educational investments are significantly determined by family wealth, human and physical, parental schooling, and number of siblings. The intergenerational social question is how social institutions can be altered to reduce the relative disadvantage of individuals born into less well-placed families if that goal is, in fact, desirable. The rather modest contribution of this paper to that end is to give some quantitative measure to the relative importance of the major channels by which family characteristics influence schooling choice.
Bibliography Citation
Parsons, Donald O. "Intergenerational Wealth Transfers and the Educational Decisions of Male Youth." Quarterly Journal of Economics 89,4 (November 1975): 603-617.
16. Parsons, Donald O.
The Autocorrelation of Earnings, Human Wealth Inequality, and Income Contingent Loans
Quarterly Journal of Economics 92,4 (November 1978): 551-569.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/4/551.abstract
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Colleges; Earnings; Educational Costs; Educational Returns; Schooling

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

Estimates of the covariance structure of earnings are presented for white male wage and salary earners in the United States. These estimates for intervals up to six years are then characterized by a two-component error structure, a simple autocorrelation scheme and an additional random element, the structure of which is used to estimate the variance of present values of earnings. The implications of these estimates, undertaken for three schooling levels (S = 12, 13-15, and 16), are then derived for the measurement of economic inequality and the optimal design of income contingent educational loans.
Bibliography Citation
Parsons, Donald O. "The Autocorrelation of Earnings, Human Wealth Inequality, and Income Contingent Loans." Quarterly Journal of Economics 92,4 (November 1978): 551-569.