Inter-Industry Mobility and the Cyclical Upgrading of Labor / Mark Bils, Kenneth J. McLaughlin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bils, Mark.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

McLaughlin, Kenneth J.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w4130.

NBER working paper series no. w4130

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1992.

Summary:

We investigate whether a market-clearing model of the labor market is consistent with the cyclical upgrading of labor: workers tend to move to higher paying industries in expansions and to lower paying industries in contractions. By applying Roy's (1951) model of self-selection to industry fluctuations, we show that cyclical upgrading can be consistent with market clearing. Applying the model to inter-industry mobility patterns in panel data, we find data of substantial selection by comparative advantage. However, the panel data reveal a selection process that is consistent with cyclical upgrading. Thus the model does not simultaneously account for interindustry mobility in panel data and cyclical upgrading.

Notes:

Print version record

August 1992.