MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Job Changes and Wage Changes: Estimation with Measurement Error in a Binary Variable*


    Bergin, Adele (2013) Job Changes and Wage Changes: Estimation with Measurement Error in a Binary Variable*. National University of Ireland Maynooth. (Unpublished)

    [img] Download (1MB)


    Share your research

    Twitter Facebook LinkedIn GooglePlus Email more...



    Add this article to your Mendeley library


    Abstract

    Many studies of labour market dynamics use survey data so it is valuable to know about the quality of the data collected. This paper investigates job transitions in Ireland over the period 1995 to 2001, using the Living in Ireland Survey, the Irish component of the European Community Household Panel. In applied work on job mobility, researchers often have to rely on self-reported accounts of tenure to determine whether or not a job change has taken place. There may be measurement error in these responses and consequently observations may be misclassified. The paper finds that there are substantial inconsistencies or measurement error in the responses used to determine job changes so there is a risk of misclassifying cases as being job changes when truly they are job stays and vice versa. The paper explores the impact of misclassification in a model of job change using an estimator developed by Hausman, Abrevaya and Scott-Morton (1998). It finds that ignoring misclassification may substantially underestimate the true number of job changes and it can lead to diminished covariate effects. The paper then investigates the relationship between job mobility and wage growth. Misclassification in a binary explanatory variable causes attenuation in OLS estimates. A two-step approach to controlling for misclassification in job changes is adopted to estimate the wage effects of job mobility. The paper finds that controlling for misclassification has a substantial impact on the estimated effect of changing jobs on wage growth.

    Item Type: Other
    Additional Information: * Earlier versions of this paper were presented at National University of Ireland Maynooth in December 2008 and March 2011 and the 12th IZA European Summer School in Labor Economics, 27th April 27 to 3rd May, 2009. The author would like to thank Donal O’Neill, Aedin Doris, Olive Sweetman, Tom O’Connor and Arthur van Soest for helpful comments and suggestions.
    Keywords: Mobility; Binary variables; Misclassification; labour market dynamics; Ireland;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics, Finance and Accounting
    Item ID: 4434
    Depositing User: Ms Sandra Doherty
    Date Deposited: 13 Aug 2013 15:57
    Publisher: National University of Ireland Maynooth
    URI:
      Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

      Repository Staff Only(login required)

      View Item Item control page

      Downloads

      Downloads per month over past year

      Origin of downloads