The Timing of Careers and Human Capital Depreciation

40 Pages Posted: 29 Jul 2002 Last revised: 31 Mar 2023

See all articles by Astrid Kunze

Astrid Kunze

NHH Norwegian School of Economics - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); CESIfo

Abstract

This paper explores the short and long run effects of career interruptions on wages for youngskilled workers in West Germany. The analysis distinguishes four types of careerinterruptions: unemployment, parental leave for female workers, national service for maleworkers and other non-work spells. We adopt the human capital model by Mincer andPolachek (1974) with homogenous human capital and test whether net depreciation is equalacross types of employment interruptions, and equal in the short and in the long run. Themain findings are that timing effects seem important and net depreciation differs across typesof interruptions.

Keywords: human capital depreciation, wage determination, unemployment

JEL Classification: J16, J3, J7

Suggested Citation

Kunze, Astrid, The Timing of Careers and Human Capital Depreciation. IZA Discussion Paper No. 509, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=319961 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.319961

Astrid Kunze (Contact Author)

NHH Norwegian School of Economics - Department of Economics ( email )

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