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Are Specific Skills an Obstacle to Labor Market Adjustment?

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dc.contributor.authorLamo, Ana
dc.contributor.authorMessina, Julian
dc.contributor.authorWasmer, Etienne
dc.date.accessioned2012-03-30T07:29:06Z
dc.date.available2012-03-30T07:29:06Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractThis paper shows that specialized education reduces workers' mobility and hence their ability to cope with economic changes. We illustrate this point using labor force data from two countries having experienced important macroeconomic turbulence; a large economy with rigid labor markets, Poland, and a small open economy with increased flexibility, Estonia. We find that holding a vocational degree is associated with much longer unemployment duration spells and higher likelihood of leaving activity for older workers. We then build a theoretical framework in which young agents' careers are heavily determined by the type of initial education, and analyze the transition to a new steady-state after a sectoral demand shift. Quantitative exercises suggest that the over-specialization of the labor force in Poland led to much higher and persistent unemployment compared to Estonia during the period of EU enlargement. Traditional labor market institutions (wage rigidity and employment protection) lead to an increase of the unemployment gap, but to a lesser extent.en
dc.identifier.citationLabour Economics
dc.identifier.issn09275371
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/4660
dc.language.isoEN
dc.relation.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.subjectHuman Capital
dc.subjectSkills
dc.subjectOccupational Choice
dc.subjectLabor Productivity J240
dc.subjectJob, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility
dc.subjectPromotion J620
dc.subjectUnemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search J640
dc.titleAre Specific Skills an Obstacle to Labor Market Adjustment?en
dc.title.alternativeLabour Economicsen
dc.typeJournal Articleen
dc.typeArticle de journalfr
dc.typeArtículo de revistaes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.doctypeJournal Article
okr.externalcontentExternal Content
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum1078
okr.journal.nbpages240-256
okr.language.supporteden
okr.peerreviewAcademic Peer Review
okr.region.countryPoland
okr.region.countryEstonia
okr.relation.associatedurlhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2010.09.006
okr.relation.associatedurlhttp://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eoh&AN=1240372&site=ehost-live
okr.relation.associatedurlhttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/523092/description#description
okr.volume18
relation.isAuthorOfPublication6610b5d1-45b5-5f8a-864f-5d79bae5927c
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery6610b5d1-45b5-5f8a-864f-5d79bae5927c
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