What Occupations Do

William Arbour and David Price

Working Papers from University of Toronto, Department of Economics

Abstract: Occupations are often seen as key labor market determinants, but little is known about their effect on workers. Using worker-occupation fixed effects, we first find that occupations explain only 3% of wage variance in the United States--too little to explain much of inequality, gender wage gaps, or other issues. Second, by introducing a new natural measure of occupational distance, we find that some occupations are consistently pluripotent, propelling workers to diverse jobs and allowing them to quickly overcome job loss. Third, we compile our estimates to provide new guidance for job seekers to help them choose better-informed career paths.

Keywords: Occupations; Variance decomposition; Earnings growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J31 J62 J63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: Unknown pages
Date: 2025-06-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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