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ERIC Number: ED103621
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1974
Pages: 152
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Schooling, Experience, and Earnings. Human Behavior & Social Institutions No. 2.
Mincer, Jacob
The author, a pioneering researcher on investment in human capital, presents a seminal attempt at a systematic analysis of personal income distribution. The framework is a human capital model based upon the aggregate earnings distribution of white, male, urban workers and the net investments in human capital among these workers. Schooling and post-school investment are designated as the two principal elements of human capital; when specific measures of post-school investment are unavailable, experience (estimated from age and the length of schooling) is used. In the theoretical section, the author demonstrates that years of experience rather than age should be emphasized in interpreting earnings variations. Educational differences of the random group of white, male, urban workers accounted for only seven percent of the earnings differential. Mincer shows empirically that schooling has more explanatory power for groups with constant years of experience than for groups of the same age, and that the explanatory power is at its peak for groups with seven to nine years of experience. The author finds further confirmation of experience over age in the data on female earnings. Suggestions for future research are the inclusion of females, blacks, older people, and nonurban people and the inclusion of nonemployment income. (Author/EA)
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 261 Madison Ave., New York, New York 010016 ($10.00)
Publication Type: Books
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., New York, NY.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A