Valuable Experience: How University Internships Affect Graduates’ Income

This paper analyzes whether and how attending an internship during tertiary education affects income. We address endogeneity with an IV approach that exploits information regarding whether the internship was a mandatory component of the study. We further address selection into programs with mandatory internship by using the share of mandatory internships at the closest university, exploiting the low mobility of Swiss students. The results show that internships increase graduates’ incomes. We explore potential mechanisms for the effect of internships on income, finding that general human capital is the main mechanism rather than firm- or field-specific human capital, signaling, or screening. These results indicate that students should continue to invest in internships and that mandatory internships have a place in university curricula because they improve the quality of education.

Human capital and export performance in the Spanish manufacturing firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of firms’ general and specific human capital on the export propensity and intensity. Design/methodology/approach The resource-based view of the firm provides the theoretical background to examine export performance. Empirical analysis is carried out using a national representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms and employing Logit and Tobit models. Export performance is evaluated in a dual way, as export propensity and export intensity. In relation to human capital a distinction is made between general and specific human capital. Findings The results shown that differences exist in the effect of general and specific human capital. While the firms’ general human capital (education of the firm’s employees) affects both export propensity and intensity, only some dimensions of specific human capital (employees’ experience at the workplace) affects export propensity and intensity but no the employees’ training. Moreover, the firms’ general human capital generates greater changes than the effect of specific human capital on the export behavior. Originality/value This paper extends a line of research underexplored in the literature by analyzing the effect of organizational human capital on the firm’s export performance; moreover, it is the first study for Spanish manufacturing firms; the distinction between general and specific human capital enhances our comprehension of the human capital as a determinant of export performance. In relation to the specific human capital, besides training, we add a new variable related to experience at the workplace.

Graduates of Russian Universities in the Labor Market (Data from the Rosstat Survey)

The materials from a representative survey of Rosstat in 2016 of higher education graduates in 2010–2015 allowed to analyze the processes of their employment. Almost ½ worked during the education that provided advantages in employment. After graduation, 2/3 searched for work and found it relatively quickly, using most often social networks; 1/3 were not busy looking for work, of which ¼ had a provided job. Imbalances between the structure of supply and the structure of demand in the labor market led to the fact that about 1/3 of graduates got a job that did not related to their field of study; more likely ones from fields that generate more general human capital (social sciences, business, law) – on the contrary, for specific human capital (medicine, computer science). Besides, more than a 1/3 of graduates acquired occupational statuses that do not require higher education; the mismatches “job – field of study” significantly worsened this situation. HE graduates had higher employment and lower unemployment compared to SVE graduates; and the differences in average salaries between them were significantly smaller than for all employees with similar levels of education. The beginning of a career evens out the differences in average salaries of HE graduates who have received different statuses.

Job competition, human capital, and the lock-in effect: can unemployment insurance efficiently allocate human capital

Workers, firms and policymakers often face a trade-off between shorter unemployment spells on the one hand, and better quality matches on the other. During recessions this manifests itself through job competition, where high skilled workers misallocate their labor to positions for which they are over-qualified in order get back to work faster. In the presence of job-specific human capital, as high skilled workers gain experience in this low skilled sector they may find themselves “locked in” to these jobs. This is because workers will not want to lose their seniority by searching for a job that better utilizes their general human capital. As a result, this misallocation can persist even in economic recoveries leading to inefficient outcomes. This paper explores such an economy and finds that a UI system that becomes more generous during a recession increases welfare and better allocates human capital over the business cycle.

Gender Differential Effect Of Business Education Students’ Human Capital On Sustainable Economic Development

This research investigates the relationship between business education students’ human capital and core values of sustainable economic development from a gender perspective. This research specifically investigates four interrelated questions. First, do male and female business education students experience different types of general human capital? Second, do male and female business education students possess different types of specific human capital? Third, do differences in both male and female business education students’ general human capital have a differential effect on sustainable development of Nigerian economy? And finally, do differences in both male and female business education students’ specific human capital have a differential effect on sustainable development of Nigerian economy? To answer these questions, bivariate correlation was employed. The hypotheses were tested using analysis of variance and multiple regressions. Using a survey data of all the final-year undergraduate students (<em>N </em>= 375) of business education in Federal Universities in South-South geopolitical region of Nigeria, the results showed a positive correlation between general and specific human capital and core values sustainable development. Male and female business education students experience almost the same type of general human capital. The results also showed that male students possess higher level of specific human capital than female students. The results further showed that changes or variations in core values of sustainable development caused by both general and specific human capital are higher in male than the female students. Logical conclusions and implications for future practices are discussed.

The Boss Knows Best: Directors of Research and Subordinate Analysts

Research departments are managed by directors of research (DORs). Subordinate analysts working for higher-quality DORs provide superior earnings forecasts that elicit stronger market reactions, provide better investment recommendations, and have better career outcomes. For the broker, higher-quality DORs drive more trading commissions. Economically, analysts benefit the most from DOR–analyst industry alignment resulting from DORs’ former analyst experience. We provide several tests to mitigate endogeneity concerns and explore various mechanisms to explain these results. Overall, our article identifies a unique channel whereby the industry-specific and general human capital of top management filters through to individual subordinates and consequently improves organizational performance.

Catalytic Agent for Strategic Innovation Ambidexterity: The Role of Human Capital

Developing exploitation and exploration innovation capability is enormously critical for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to attain comprehensive endurance in borderless business battlefield. To better understand the extent to which SMEs realize strategic innovation ambidexterity, this study develops a theoretical framework that associates human capital to strategic innovation ambidexterity. Grounded by the Theory of Dynamic Capability, this present study examines the effects of the subsequent predecessor in predicting technological and non-technological innovation ambidexterity among SMEs operating internationally specifically; general human capital and specific human capital. Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires from herbal-based SMEs who participated in this study. A quantitative approach was adopted, and hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis. Findings showed that general and specific human capital positively influenced the development of strategic technological and non-technological ambidexterity. This study provides evidence on the pivotal role of human capital in SMEs located in a developing country.

Relational Knowledge Transfers

We study how relational contracts mitigate Becker's classic problem of providing general human capital when training contracts are incomplete. The firm's profit-maximizing agreement is a multiperiod apprenticeship in which the novice is trained gradually over time and eventually receives all knowledge. The firm adopts a 1/e rule, whereby at the beginning of the relationship the novice is trained, for free, just enough to produce a fraction 1/e of the efficient output. After that, the novice earns all additional knowledge with labor. This rule causes inefficiently lengthy relationships that grow longer the more patient the players. A minimum wage is welfare enhancing. (JEL D82, D86, J24, M53)

Immigrants’ initial firm allocation and earnings growth

While employers are playing an increasingly important role in immigration selection in Canada, little is known about how firm-level characteristics affect the economic integration of immigrants. Using a Canadian employer–employee matched dataset, this paper considers whether immigrants initially employed in low-paying firms in Canada experienced inferior earnings growth than those initially employed in high-paying firms. The results show that the large earnings differential observed between immigrants initially employed in low- and high-paying firms diminished only slightly over the subsequent 14 years, even when differences in demographic and general human capital characteristics are taken into account.Alors que les employeurs jouent un rôle de plus en plus important dans la sélection des immigrants qui s’établissent au Canada, on en sait peu sur la façon dont les caractéristiques au niveau de l’entreprise influencent l’intégration économique de ces derniers. Au moyen d’un ensemble de données appariées sur les employeurs et les employés, le présent document vise à déterminer si la croissance des gains des immigrants employés initialement au Canada par des entreprises à bas salaires est plus faible que celle des gains des immigrants employés au départ par des entreprises à hauts salaires. Les résultats montrent que l’écart important observé entre les gains des immigrants employés au départ par des entreprises à bas salaires et de ceux employés par des entreprises à hauts salaires ne diminuait que légèrement au cours des 14 années suivantes, même après avoir tenu compte des différences de caractéristiques démographiques et de caractéristiques générales du capital humain.