TY  - BOOK
AU  -  Gaetani, Ruben
AU  - 2024
AU  - Doepke, Matthias
TI  - Why Didn't the College Premium Rise Everywhere? Employment Protection and On-the-Job Investment in Skills
SN  - 1945-7707
PB  - American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
KW  -  Labor Productivity, Wage Level and Structure
KW  -  Layoffs
KW  -  Occupational Choice
KW  -  Research Institutions, Returns to Education, Human Capital
KW  -  Skills
KW  - Higher Education
N2  - Why has the college wage premium risen rapidly in the United States since the 1980s but not in European economies such as Germany? We argue that differences in employment protection can account for much of the gap. We develop a model in which firms and workers make relationship-specific investments in skill accumulation. The incentive to invest is stronger when employment protection creates an expectation of long-lasting matches. We argue that changes in the economic environment have reduced relationship-specific investment for less educated workers in the United States, but not for better-protected workers in Germany
UR  - https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/mac.20210120
ER  -