Introduction (highly tentative)
Since Becker first posited the theory of human capital, there have been many vaugeries as to what might be the results of his wide reaching theory. Here, I examine the effects of firm-specific human capital on job turnover. Firm-specific human capital is capital that a worker acquires from training by or at the firm to achieve tasks entirely related to one's own firm. In this case, human capital would predict that such capital attainment is risky. This is because at high levels of firm-specific human capital attainment, a worker becomes so specialized that it is hard to transfer their skills to another job. In this case, I expect that workers with large amounts of human capital should face longer job search length during unemployment following dismissal or quitting their previous job.
Something strange happened when I pasted my bibliography (which also is continuously growing as I find more research related to my topic) to cause the line spacing to be inconsistent. Please forgive me.
Bibliography
Edward P. Lazear. "Firm‐Specific Human Capital: A Skill‐Weights Approach." Journal
of Political Economy 117.5
(2009): 914-40. Print.
Felli, Leonardo, and Christopher
Harris. "Learning, Wage Dynamics, and Firm-Specific Human Capital." Journal of Political Economy 104.4 (1996): 838-68. Print.
Jovanovic, Boyan.
"Firm-Specific Capital and Turnover." Journal of Political Economy 87.6 (1979): 1246-60. Print.
Neal, Derek.
"Industry-Specific Human Capital: Evidence from Displaced Workers." Journal of Labor Economics 13.4 (1995): 653-77. Print.
Parsons, Donald O. "Specific
Human Capital: An Application to Quit Rates and Layoff Rates." Journal of Political Economy 80.6 (1972): 1120-43. Print.
Your research project has the potential to be very interesting. However, you have chosen a difficult subject to research. I believe finding applicable data will be the hardest part of your research. That said, if you can find solid data, your topic will provide many avenues for research. I think your hypothesis will prove more true, as it makes sense that overspecialization has its negative drawbacks.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest question is how you'll determine if a person's overspecialization is the reason he's having a hard time finding a new job as opposed to anything else. The simple act of defining if a person is overspecialized or not is daunting. While your hypothesis has merit, defining the data is likely going to be difficult.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you developed your intro with some basic background information about your topic. What would have been beneficial is if you discussed your sources of data and how you were planning on testing your hypothesis.
ReplyDelete