Gu, Ran (2019) Specific capital, firm insurance, and the dynamics of the postgraduate wage premium. Working Paper. Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Working Paper. (Unpublished)

Preview

Text WP201926-Specific-capital-firm-insurance-and-the-dynamics-of-the-postgraduate-wage-premium.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Postgraduate degree holders experience lower cyclical wage variation than those with undergraduate degrees. Moreover, postgraduates have more specific human capital than undergraduates. Using an equilibrium search model with long-term contracts and imperfect monitoring of worker effort, this paper attributes the cyclicality of the postgraduate-undergraduate wage gap to the differences in specific capital. Imperfect monitoring creates a moral hazard problem that requires firms to pay efficiency wages. More specific capital leads to lower mobility, thereby alleviating the moral hazard and improving risk-sharing. Estimates reveal that specific capital explains the differences both in labour turnover and in wage cyclicality across education groups.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics, Department of
Depositing User:	Elements
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2020 19:37
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2020 19:37
URI:	http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/29139

Actions (login required)

View Item