This paper proposes that risk aversion encourages individuals to invest in balanced skillprofiles, making them more likely to become entrepreneurs. By not having taken this possiblelinkage into account, previous research has underestimated the impacts both of risk aversionand balanced skills on...

For the first time it has been made possible to merge a German and a Swiss firm-level data set that include detailed information about costs and benefits of apprenticeship training. Previous analyses based only on aggregate data showed that the net costs of training apprentices are substantial...

This paper investigates the evolution of earnings inequality in urban China from 1989 to2006. After decomposing the variance of log of earnings into transitory and permanent twoparts, we find that both components are important contributors to the total variance ofearnings. We also find that the...

This paper reviews the literature on two-sided atomeless assignment models of workers to tasks. Using simple parametric examples, the fundamental differences between the comparative advantage and the scale of operations models are illustrated. Holding the distributions of abilities and tasks and...

Collective bargaining in Germany takes place either at the industry level or at the firm level; collective bargaining coverage is much higher than union density; and not all employees in a covered firm are necessarily covered. This institutional setup suggests to explicitly distinguish union...

In this paper we document the wage structure and labor mobility in the Netherlands in theperiod 1999-2003. We explain the importance of wage-setting institutions in the Netherlandsand the main actors. The analyses are based on administrative sources allowing forcomparisons between and within...

Using linked employer-employee data from the German Structure of Earnings Survey 2001,this paper provides a comprehensive picture of the wage structure in three wage-settingregimes prevalent in the German system of industrial relations...

This paper employs United States Census data to study the occupational allocation ofimmigrants. The data reveal that the occupational shares of various ethnic groups havegrown drastically in regional labor markets over the period 1980 to 2000. We examine theextent to which this growth can be...

Standard economic models which focus on pecuniary payoffs cannot explain why there arehighly able individuals who choose careers with low pecuniary returns. Therefore, financialincentives are unlikely to be effective in influencing career choices of these individuals.Based on Akerlof and Kranton...

This paper identifies several distortions which create barriers to entrepreneurship. First, inaddition to the innate entry cost, there are entry costs caused by regulation. Second, unionwage policies raise the opportunity cost of entrepreneurship...<BR>