OCCUPATIONAL SPECIFICITY OF HUMAN CAPITAL*

2009/01/28 by Gueorgui Kambourov, Iourii Manovskii · 682 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Capital (architecture) #Economic growth #Economic theories and models #Economics #Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth #Geography #Human capital #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality #Labour economics #Microeconomics #Occupational licensing #Wage

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00524.x

published in International Economic Review 50(1), 63-115 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2009/01/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

We find that returns to occupational tenure are substantial. Everything else being constant, 5 years of occupational tenure are associated with an increase in wages of 12%–20%. Moreover, when occupational experience is taken into account, tenure with an industry or employer has relatively little importance in accounting for the wage one receives. This finding is consistent with human capital being occupation specific.

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