The Cost of Human Capital Depreciation During Unemployment

A-Tier
Journal: Economic Journal
Year: 2021
Volume: 131
Issue: 634
Pages: 827-850

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper argues that human capital depreciation during unemployment generates an externality in job creation: firms ignore how their hiring decisions affect the skill composition of the future unemployment pool, and hence the output produced by new hires. As a consequence, job creation is too low from a social point of view. But the extent to which it is too low varies over the cycle. The reason is that the increase in the expected productivity of a new hire from next period’s unemployment pool caused by hiring an additional worker today, depends on the pool’s composition, which varies over the cycle.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:econjl:v:131:y:2021:i:634:p:827-850.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25