Why Have Aggregate Skilled Hours Become So Cyclical Since the Mid-1980's?
Article [Version publiée]
Fait partie de
Cahier de recherche ; no 2005-19.Éditeur·s
Université de Montréal. Département de sciences économiques.Affiliation
Mots-clés
- Macroeconomics
- Business Cycles
- Volatility
- Skilled Hours
- Skill Premium
- Capital- Skill Complementarity
- [JEL:E24] Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - Macroeconomics: Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution (includes wage indexation)
- [JEL:E32] Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
- [JEL:J24] Labor and Demographic Economics - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- [JEL:J31] Labor and Demographic Economics - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials by Skill, Training, Occupation, etc.
- [JEL:E24] Macroéconomie et économie monétaire - Consommation, épargne, production, emploi et investissement - Emploi, chômage, salaires
- [JEL:E32] Macroéconomie et économie monétaire - Prix, fluctuations des affaires, inflation et cycles économiques - Fluctuations des affaires, cycles économiques
- [JEL:J24] Démographie et économie du travail - Allocation du temps, comportement au travail et détermination de l'emploi - Formation du capital humain, choix professionnels et productivité au travail
- [JEL:J31] Démographie et économie du travail - Salaires, compensations, coûts du travail - Niveau et structure des salaires, différentiation de salaires par l'habileté, l'éducation, l'occupation, etc..
Résumé·s
This paper documents and discusses a dramatic change in the cyclical behavior of aggregate hours worked by individuals with a college degree (skilled workers) since the mid-1980’s. Using the CPS outgoing rotation data set for the period 1979:1-2003:4, we find that the volatility of aggregate skilled hours relative to the volatility of GDP has nearly tripled since 1984. In contrast, the cyclical properties of unskilled hours have remained essentially unchanged. We evaluate the extent to which a simple supply/demand model for skilled and unskilled labor with capital-skill complementarity in production can help explain this stylized fact. Within this framework, we identify three effects which would lead to an increase in the relative volatility of skilled hours: (i) a reduction in the degree of capital-skill complementarity, (ii) a reduction in the absolute volatility of GDP (and unskilled hours), and (iii) an increase in the level of capital equipment relative to skilled labor. We provide empirical evidence in support of each of these effects. Our conclusion is that these three mechanisms can jointly explain about sixty percent of the observed increase in the relative volatility of skilled labor. The reduction in the degree of capital-skill complementarity contributes the most to this result.
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