Returns to Skills and Personnel Management: U.S. Department of Defense Scientists and Engineers

Michael Gibbs ()

Economic Inquiry, 2006, vol. 44, issue 2, pages 199-214

Abstract: Personnel records are used to examine compensation, recruitment, and retention of a group of highly skilled workers: civilian scientists and engineers in U.S. Department of Defense laboratories. In contrast to those of the private sector, returns to skills were largely flat for this group from 1982 to 1996. Despite this, quality and performance of recruits relative to earlier cohorts, and of those retained relative to those who left, remained stable. One explanation is the importance of defense industry--specific human capital. These results hold for three different pay plans, including the federal government's primary plan and two intended to introduce greater flexibility in personnel management. (JEL J31, J44, J45, M52) Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

JEL-codes: J31 J44 J45 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ei/cbj012 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ecinqu:v:44:y:2006:i:2:p:199-214

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.oup.co.uk/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Economic Inquiry is edited by Preston McAfee

More articles in Economic Inquiry from Oxford University Press
Address: Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK
Series data maintained by Christopher F. Baum ().