Abstract
Jeffrey A. Groen (2005) "Occupation-Specific Human
Capital and Local Labor Markets."
Most skills acquired through on-the-job training may be specific to an occupation and therefore
transferable to some but not all firms. This paper explores the relationship
between the size of the local market for an occupation-specific skill and
job-training outcomes. The Stevens (1994) model of training predicts that as
market size increases, job turnover increases and training becomes more
general. I test these predictions using data on blue-collar workers and
variation in market size across U.S. metropolitan areas. The empirical
results support the theoretical predictions and the impacts are most relevant
at low levels of market size.
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