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Author: Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat

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1.	Polachek, Solomon W. Das, Tirthatanmoy Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat
1.	Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital IZA Discussion Paper No. 7335, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), April 2013. Also: http://ftp.iza.org/dp7335.pdf Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Earnings; Human Capital; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Racial Differences; Self-Esteem; Skill Depreciation; Socioeconomic Background Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. We derive a tractable nonlinear earnings function which we estimate separately for each individual in the NLSY79 data. These estimates yield five important parameters for each individual: three ability measures (two representing the ability to learn and one the ability to earn), a rate of skill depreciation, and a time discount rate. In addition, we obtain a population wide estimate of the rental rate of human capital. To illustrate heterogeneity in the production of human capital, we plot the distribution of these parameters along with NLSY79 reported AFQT scores. By utilizing these parameters, we are able to verify a number of heretofore untested theorems based on the life-cycle human capital model. In addition, we are able to show how these human capital production function parameters relate to cognitive ability, personality traits, and family background. Among our results, we find: Black-white differences in ability are smaller than those exhibited in standardized tests. Blacks have higher time discount and skill depreciation rates than whites. Individuals with higher time discount rates and greater rates of skill depreciation have fewer years of school. Individuals with both a high internal locus of control and self-esteem exhibit greater ability, lower skill depreciation, and smaller time discount rates. Individuals inclined towards depression have higher time discount rates. Agreeable, open, conscientious and extrovert individuals have a greater ability to learn but not necessarily a greater ability to earn. Neurotic individuals have a lower ability to learn. Higher parental education is associated with a greater ability to learn, lower skill depreciation, and a smaller time discount rate. Educational stimuli, such as growing up in a household that subscribed to magazines, are associated with higher ability. Conversely, growing up poor is associated with lower ability.
	Bibliography Citation Polachek, Solomon W., Tirthatanmoy Das and Rewat Thamma-Apiroam. "Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital." IZA Discussion Paper No. 7335, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), April 2013.

2.	Polachek, Solomon W. Das, Tirthatanmoy Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat
2.	Micro- and Macroeconomic Implications of Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital Journal of Political Economy 123,6 (December 2015): 1410-1455. Also: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/683989 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Family Background and Culture; Heterogeneity; Human Capital; Personality/Big Five Factor Model or Traits; Skill Depreciation We derive a tractable nonlinear earnings function that we estimate separately individual by individual using NLSY79 data. We obtain three ability measures, a rate of skill depreciation, a time discount rate, and a population-wide estimate of the human capital rental rate. We utilize these parameters to verify a number of heretofore untested theorems based on the life cycle model. We show how these human capital production function parameters relate to cognitive ability, personality traits, and family background. Finally, we show that accounting for individual-specific heterogeneity dramatically reduces estimates of population-wide persistence of permanent and transitory shocks by over 50 percent.
	Bibliography Citation Polachek, Solomon W., Tirthatanmoy Das and Rewat Thamma-Apiroam. "Micro- and Macroeconomic Implications of Heterogeneity in the Production of Human Capital." Journal of Political Economy 123,6 (December 2015): 1410-1455.

3.	Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat
3.	Identifying and Estimating Ability from Nonlinear Human Capital Earnings Functions Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton, 2009 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) Keyword(s): Achievement; Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Cognitive Ability; Earnings; I.Q.; Intelligence Tests; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Tests and Testing Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. In the framework of optimal human capital accumulation theory, the typical Mincerian earnings function cannot properly characterize the role of ability so that theoretical development for identifying such ability is necessary. Through a closed-form solution of the earnings function, a modified version of Ben-Porath and Haley human capital investment models has been proposed. Not only does this adapted earnings function provide a number of meaningful parameters such as the initial human capital endowment and the rate of return to schooling, but it also allows the ability parameter to be identified in a practical fashion. This study, therefore, takes advantage of such a framework by pinpointing and estimating the earnings functions with the nonlinear least squares technique. Various demographic groups are employed to estimate the ability parameter. Subsequently, as an application to this explicitly closed-form solution, the data on independent ability measures such as IQ and aptitude tests are utilized to compare with the ability parameter. The vital aim is to establish a relationship between the ability parameter obtained from the nonlinear earnings function in economics and the ability measures mostly developed from the psychology discipline. The empirical results reveal no racial bias for ability estimation. Furthermore, utilizing the same procedure through group and individual data gives a consistent result. There exits a relatively strong relation between ability estimates and IQ scores across a diverse range of independent general cognitive ability and aptitude tests, all from the NLSY79 data. However, at the individual level, the correlation coefficients are somewhat weaker than those from group estimation. In conclusion, an alternative ability measure through ability parameter has been originally developed which links the economics and psychology disciplines.
	Bibliography Citation Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat. Identifying and Estimating Ability from Nonlinear Human Capital Earnings Functions. Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton, 2009.

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