Attila Gyetvai - Job Mobility Within and Across Occupations (Trailer)

Описание: Attila Gyetvai, Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at Duke University
https://attilagyetvai.com

Transcript:

Hi there! I am Attila Gyetvai, and this is my job market paper in two minutes.

A central question in labor economics is why similar workers make different wages. Many competing theories offer explanations through various mechanisms. In my job market paper, I argue that occupations serve as a key vehicle for all these mechanisms. Why occupations? Because they proxy what workers do on the job in a data-driven way. A further advantage is that policies can better target certain occupations rather than the entire labor market.

What does it mean that occupations are a key vehicle for these mechanisms? It means two things. First, workers in different occupations face vastly different labor market landscapes. Second, workers can switch from one occupation to another to improve their wages.

I formalize this argument through the lens of a structural model of job mobility within and across occupations. The model incorporates four mechanisms. First, wage offers differ across occupations. Second, workers receive job offers and separation shocks at various rates across occupations, which captures occupational labor market frictions. Third, occupations offer different non-wage amenities, which results in occupational compensating differentials. Fourth, workers in different occupations face different non-pecuniary costs to switch jobs.

I take this model to administrative data form Hungary that track workers across employers and occupations. In these data, I find that workers who start their careers in the bottom 10 percent of wages in a high-skill occupation surpass those who start in the top 5 percent in a low-skill occupation in 5 years.

For more, check out my paper and my other work on my website.