Data and Code for: Human Capital Depreciation and Returns to Experience

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Michael Dinerstein, University of Chicago; Rigissa Megalokonomou, University of Queensland; Constantine Yannelis, University of Chicago. Booth School of Business

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
code			09/27/2022 01:25:PM
data			09/27/2022 02:09:PM
output			03/24/2022 05:42:PM
raw			03/24/2022 05:48:PM
README.pdf	application/pdf	174.5 KB	10/10/2022 08:24:AM
dataset_list.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	19.6 KB	09/27/2022 10:09:AM

Project Citation:

Dinerstein, Michael, Megalokonomou, Rigissa, and Yannelis, Constantine. Data and Code for: Human Capital Depreciation and Returns to Experience. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-10-20. https://doi.org/10.3886/E165721V1

Project Description

Summary: Human capital can depreciate if skills are unused. But estimating human capital depreciation is challenging, as worker skills are difficult to measure and less productive workers are more likely to spend time in non-employment. We overcome these challenges with new administrative data on teachers' assignments and their students' outcomes, and quasi-random variation from the teacher assignment process in Greece. We find significant losses to output, as a one-year increase in time without formal employment lowers students' test scores by 0.05 standard deviations. Using a simple production model, we estimate a skill depreciation rate of 4.3% and experience returns of 6.8%.

Funding Sources: Becker Friedman Institute; Fama Miller Center

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Human capital; unemployment; education

JEL Classification:
      E24 Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
      I28 Education: Government Policy
      J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

Geographic Coverage: Greece

Time Period(s): 1/1/2003 – 1/1/2011

Collection Date(s): 2003 – 2015

Universe: All teachers and students in public high schools in Greece between 2003 and 2011

Data Type(s): administrative records data

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2022-10-20]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.