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Title: Social Effects in Employer Learning: An Analysis of Siblings
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1. Rao, Neel
Social Effects in Employer Learning: An Analysis of Siblings
Labour Economics 38 (January 2016): 24-36.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537115001104
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Human Capital; Siblings; Wages

This paper examines whether wages are based on information about personal contacts. I develop a theory of labor markets with imperfect information in which related workers have correlated abilities. I study wage setting under two alternative processes: individual learning, under which employers observe only a worker's own characteristics, and social learning, under which employers also observe those of a relative. Using sibling data from the NLSY79, I test for a form of statistical nepotism in which a sibling's performance is priced into a worker's wage. Empirically, an older sibling's test score has a larger impact on a younger sibling's log wage than a younger sibling's test score has on an older sibling's log wage. The estimates provide strong support for social effects in employer learning.
Bibliography Citation
Rao, Neel. "Social Effects in Employer Learning: An Analysis of Siblings." Labour Economics 38 (January 2016): 24-36.