Knowledge that Transforms

Conventional analysis predicts that workers pay part of their on-the-job training costs by accepting a lower starting wage and subsequently realize a return to this investment in the form of greater wage growth. Missing from the conventional treatment of on-the-job training is a discussion of the process by which heterogeneous workers are matched to jobs requiring varying amounts of training. This matching process constitutes a key feature of the on-the-job training model presented in this article and tested with a unique data set containing extensive information concerning on-the-job training, employer search, wages, and wage and productivity growth.

This article investigates the experience of white-collar workers in nonprofit firms. The theoretical model of the nonprofit labor market suggests that workers supply labor to nonprofit organizations at lower than market wages in return for the opportunity to provide goods with positive social externalities. Average nonprofit wage differentials of approximately -0.20 and -0.05 are estimated for managers and professionals and for clerical and sales workers, respectively, in two national worker data sets. Further research is needed for more conclusive evidence concerning the possibility that the estimated differential may reflect low-quality workers selecting work in the nonprofit sector.

"Analyzing the location choices of the post-1964 U.S. immigrants results in three main findings: (1) these immigrants are more geographically concentrated than natives of the same age and ethnicity and reside in cities with large ethnic populations; (2) education plays a key role in location choice, reducing geographic concentration and the likelihood of being in cities with a high concentration of fellow countrymen and increasing the probability of changing locations after arrival in the United States; (3) internal migration within the United States occurs more frequently among immigrants than natives and facilitates the process of assimilation for the more educated individuals."