Occupational Choice and Incentives: The Role of Family Background

Arbeitspapier

A model of occupational choice and human capital investment is developed and tested. The model allows family background to influence occupational choice via access to economic resources, differences in costs of schooling, and ability uncertainty. The model predicts that people are more sensitive to economic incentives when considering occupations that are different from the parental occupation. It also predicts that the occupational choice of individuals from poor background is more sensitive to economic incentives than the occupational choice of well off individuals. These implications are confirmed on Swedish data using a mixed multinomial logit framework, explicitly accounting for unobserved heterogeneity.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IUI Working Paper ; No. 539

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
• Subject: Economic incentives ; Family background ; Intergenerational mobility ; Mixed multinomial logit ; Occupational choice ; Berufswahl ; Familiensoziologie ; Soziale Mobilität ; Schweden

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Sjögren, Anna
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IUI)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2000

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/94891
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET