HUMAN CAPITAL AND WAGES IN TWO LEADING INDUSTRIES OF TUNISIA: EVIDENCE FROM MATCHED WORKER-FIRM DATA

From Tunisian matched worker-firm data in 1999, we study the returns to human capital for workers observed in two leading manufacturing sectors. Workers in the mechanical and electrical industries (IMMEE) benefit from higher returns to human capital than their counterparts in the Textile-clothing industry. In the IMMEE firms, low wage workers experience greater returns to labour market experience than high wage workers. The wage premium for on-the-job training is substantial for both sectors. However, taking into account whether formal training is still ongoing at the time of the survey, our results clearly indicate that workers bear heavy costs for their training. Our analysis shows that on-the-job training (OJT) and education can be efficient channels of policies aiming at raising earnings for low wages as well as high wages workers. However, careful consideration of the industrial sector should accompany these policies since specific impact of education, experience, OJT are found in the studied sectors.