Multidimensional Skills, Sorting, and Human Capital Accumulation

Jeremy Lise and Fabien Postel-Vinay

American Economic Review, 2020, vol. 110, issue 8, 2328-76

Abstract: We construct a structural model of on-the-job search in which workers differ in skills along several dimensions and sort themselves into jobs with heterogeneous skill requirements along those same dimensions. Skills are accumulated when used, and depreciate when not used. We estimate the model combining data from O*NET with the NLSY79. We use the model to shed light on the origins and costs of mismatch along heterogeneous skill dimensions. We highlight the deficiencies of relying on a unidimensional model of skill when decomposing the sources of variation in the value of lifetime output between initial conditions and career shocks.

JEL-codes: J24 J41 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (58)

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Working Paper: Multidimensional Skills, Sorting, and Human Capital Accumulation (2015)
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20162002

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