Tasks and Heterogeneous Human Capital

55 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2009 Last revised: 13 May 2011

See all articles by Shintaro Yamaguchi

Shintaro Yamaguchi

University of Tokyo - Graduate School of Economics

Date Written: May 10, 2011

Abstract

This paper proposes a new approach to modeling heterogeneous human capital using task data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The key feature of the model is that it departs from the Roy model, which treats occupations as distinct categories, and conceives of occupa-tions as bundles of tasks. The advantages of this approach are that it can accommodate many occupations without computational burden and provide a clear interpretation as to how and why skills are differently rewarded across occupations. The model is structurally estimated by the Kalman filter using the NLSY79.

Keywords: Roy Model, Task Approach, Human Capital, Occupational Choice, Kalman Filter, Structural Estimation

JEL Classification: J24, J32

Suggested Citation

Yamaguchi, Shintaro, Tasks and Heterogeneous Human Capital (May 10, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1374655 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1374655

Shintaro Yamaguchi (Contact Author)

University of Tokyo - Graduate School of Economics ( email )

Tokyo
Japan