An Analysis of the Determinants of Occupational Upgrading

An Analysis of the Determinants of Occupational Upgrading presents a study that focuses on occupational mobility as a proxy measure for job upgrading. This monograph was first prepared in 1975 as a final report to the Manpower Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor. It is the second monograph of the Institute for Research on Poverty to deal with black-white income differentials and is also part of a growing Institute literature on the dual labor market theories and occupational mobility. The book contains seven chapters and begins with an overview of occupational mobility in the United States. The next chapter considers previous attempts to test the dual labor market hypothesis and presents a model of occupational mobility to be used in testing five hypotheses on the determinants of occupational upgrading. Subsequent chapters discuss the Census and NLS samples and outline the empirical variables used to measure the variables specified in the model; the impact on occupational upgrading of formal vocational training, industry structure, and job tenure; and the impact of interfirm and interindustry mobility on occupational progression. The final chapter summarizes the empirical findings with respect to each of the five testable hypotheses and considers some policy conclusions drawn from the analysis.

ForewordAcknowledgments1 Introduction: a Perspective and Some Testable Hypotheses An Overview of Occupational Mobility in the United States Relationship to Other Research Human Capital Theory The Dual Labor Market Hypothesis Testable Hypotheses Organization of the Study2 Analytical Framework Previous Tests of the Dual Labor Market Hypothesis A Model of Occupational Mobility3 Data and Empirical Variables Census Sample Selection of the Sample and Empirical Variables Profile of the Census Sample NLS Samples Selection of the Samples and Empirical Variables Profile of the NLS Samples Change in Economic Conditions, 1965-19704 Education and Occupational Upgrading The Impact of Education for Young Men The Census Sample NLS Sample Possible Sources of Bias The Impact of Education for Older Men Census Sample NLS Sample Summary5 Impact of Vocational Training, Industry Structure, and Job Tenure on Occupational Upgrading Formal Vocational Training Young Men Older Men Industry Structure Job Tenure Other Explanatory Variables Summary6 Impact of Interfirm and Interindustry Mobility on Occupational Upgrading Structural Estimates for Young Men Census Sample NLS Sample Structural Estimates for Older Men Census Sample NLS Sample The Impact of Occupational Change on Wage Rates Summary7 Summary and Conclusions Empirical Evidence Implications for Policy and Concluding CommentsAppendix A Regression Results, Reduced-Form EstimatesAppendix B Regression Results, Structural EstimatesReferences