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Author: Blum, Bernardo S.
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Bacolod, Marigee Ponla
Blum, Bernardo S.
Two Sides of the Same Coin: U.S. "Residual" Inequality and the Gender Gap
Journal of Human Resources 45,1 (Winter 2010): 97-242.
Also: http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/45/1/197.short
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Gender Differences; Noncognitive Skills; Skills; Wage Gap

We show that the narrowing gender gap and the growth in earnings inequality are consistent with a simple model in which skills are heterogeneous, and the growth in skill prices has been particularly strong for skills with which women are well endowed. Empirical analysis of DOT, CPS, and NLSY79 data finds evidence to support this model. A large increase in the prices of cognitive and people skills--skills with which women are well endowed--and a decline in the price of motor skills account for up to 40 percent of the rising inequality and 20 percent of the narrowing gender gap.
Bibliography Citation
Bacolod, Marigee Ponla and Bernardo S. Blum. "Two Sides of the Same Coin: U.S. "Residual" Inequality and the Gender Gap." Journal of Human Resources 45,1 (Winter 2010): 97-242.
2. Bacolod, Marigee Ponla
Blum, Bernardo S.
Strange, William C.
Elements of Skill: Traits, Intelligences, and Agglomeration
Working Paper, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, April 2009.
Also: http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/conference/2009/jrs/Strange.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Pearlin Mastery Scale; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Self-Esteem; Skilled Workers; Skills

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

There are many fundamental issues in regional and urban economics that hinge on worker skills. This paper builds on psychological approaches to learning to characterize the role of education and agglomeration in the skill development process. While the standard approach of equating skill to worker education can be useful, there are important aspects of skill that are missed. Using a measure of skill derived from hedonic attribution, the paper explores the geographic distribution of worker traits, intelligences, and skills and considers the role of urbanization and education in the skill development process.
Bibliography Citation
Bacolod, Marigee Ponla, Bernardo S. Blum and William C. Strange. "Elements of Skill: Traits, Intelligences, and Agglomeration." Working Paper, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, April 2009.
3. Bacolod, Marigee Ponla
Blum, Bernardo S.
Strange, William C.
Skills in the City
Journal of Urban Economics 65,2 (March 2009):136-153.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119008001083
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Academic Press, Inc.
Keyword(s): Cognitive Development; Geocoded Data; Human Capital; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Neighborhood Effects; Occupational Choice; Rural/Urban Differences; Rural/Urban Migration; Skilled Workers; Urban and Regional Planning; Urbanization/Urban Living

This paper documents the allocation of skills across cities and estimates the impact of agglomeration on the hedonic prices of worker skills. We find that large cities are more skilled than are small cities, but only to a modest degree. We also show that the increase in productivity associated with agglomeration, as measured by the urban wage premium, is larger for workers with stronger cognitive and people skills. In contrast, motor skills and physical strength are not rewarded to a greater degree in large cities. Urbanization thus enhances thinking and social interaction, rather than physical abilities. These results are robust to a variety of estimation strategies, including using NLSY variables that control for worker quality and a worker-MSA fixed effect specification.
Bibliography Citation
Bacolod, Marigee Ponla, Bernardo S. Blum and William C. Strange. "Skills in the City." Journal of Urban Economics 65,2 (March 2009):136-153.