Firms and Skills: The Evolution of Worker Sorting

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Human Resources
Year: 2021
Volume: 56
Issue: 2

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We document a significant increase in the sorting of workers by cognitive and noncognitive skills across Swedish firms during 1986–2008. During this period, worker skill differences between firms increased, while within-firm skill differences fell. A significant fraction of the increase in the between-firm differences in cognitive skill is due to high-skilled workers moving into the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Within-firm skill differences fell in all major industries, but particularly in the manufacturing sector. Combined with steeper firm-level skill gradients, the increase in sorting can account for 45 percent of the increase in between-firm wage dispersion during our period of study.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:uwp:jhriss:v:56:y:2021:i:2:p:512-538
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25