Book Description

This three-chapter compilation examines the theoretical and empirical implications of occupation-specific human capital as it relates to current labor economics research. The first chapter demonstrates that acknowledging occupational specificity in the human capital model allows for a reconciliation of a long-standing theoretical dispute regarding the role of occupation in the labor market. The second chapter extends the literature by estimating the cross-occupation transferability of human capital using data on the knowledge, skills, and abilities utilized in each vocation. These estimates are then applied to verify displaced blue-collar manufacturing workers as structural "victims" given lower rates of human capital application in their new occupations compared to others displaced in the labor market. The third chapter investigates the relationship between high school employment and post-school economic outcomes, as it uses occupation-specific human capital principles to dismiss the notion that in-school employment provides the "marketable skills" necessary to stimulate post-school economic gains.