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Source: Department of Economics, Northwestern University
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Ferrie, Joseph P.
The End of American Exceptionalism? Mobility in the U.S. Since 1850
Working Paper, Department of Economics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, October 2004.
Also: http://www.faculty.econ.northwestern.edu/faculty/ferrie/papers/Exceptionalism.pdf
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: Department of Economics, Northwestern University
Keyword(s): Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mobility

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

New longitudinal data on individuals linked across nineteenth century U.S. censuses document the geographic and occupational mobility of more than 75,000 Americans from the 1850s to the 1920s. Together with longitudinal data for more recent years, these data make possible for the first time systematic comparisons of mobility over the last 150 years of American economic development, as well as cross-national comparisons for the nineteenth century. The U.S. was a substantially more mobile economy than Britain between 1850 and 1880. But both intergenerational occupational mobility and geographic mobility have declined in the U.S. since the beginning of the twentieth century, leaving much less apparent two aspects of the "American Exceptionalism" noted by nineteenth century observers.
Bibliography Citation
Ferrie, Joseph P. "The End of American Exceptionalism? Mobility in the U.S. Since 1850." Working Paper, Department of Economics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, October 2004.
2. Lipton, Brandy J.
A Select Group of Friends - the Returns to Social Networking
Working Paper, Economics Department, Northwestern University, October 29, 2010.
Also: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1699855
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, Northwestern University
Keyword(s): Firms; Job Search; Skilled Workers; Social Capital; Wage Dynamics; Wage Levels; Wage Models; Workers Ability

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

Most labor models predict that networking or the use of personal contacts to find a job will be associated with wage premiums and shorter unemployment durations. While empirical studies have confirmed that networkers find jobs faster, most have not confirmed the theoretically predicted wage premium. In fact, some find evidence of a wage penalty. There is scant theory to explain these findings. I develop a general equilibrium search model with worker heterogeneity that allows workers and firms to make optimal choices about how to search for matches. Since low ability job seekers may use personal contacts intensively, networked jobs may offer lower wages on average even though networkers earn a wage premium conditional on skills. Whether the use of personal contacts is correlated with wage premiums or penalties depends on employer type. I find evidence that networkers are negatively selected in the U.S. labor market using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), and that the use of personal contacts is positively associated with wages. Furthermore, networking appears to impact labor market outcomes differently for different occupational groups.
Bibliography Citation
Lipton, Brandy J. "A Select Group of Friends - the Returns to Social Networking." Working Paper, Economics Department, Northwestern University, October 29, 2010.