Research seminar Why didn't the college premium rise everywhere? Employment protection and on-the-job investment in skills Add to calendar 2023-02-17 14:00 2023-02-17 16:00 Europe/Rome Why didn't the college premium rise everywhere? Sala Triaria Villa Schifanoia YYYY-MM-DD Print Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email When 17 February 2023 14:00 - 16:00 CET Where Sala Triaria Villa Schifanoia Organised by Department of Economics Department of History Department of Law Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Department of Political and Social Sciences Florence School of Transnational Governance Central Coordination Unit Inequality, Welfare and Social Justice During this EUI Inequality and Diversity Research Seminar, Professor Matthias Doepke (Northwestern University) will present his paper, co-authored with Ruben Gaetani, on the differences in employment protection in the United States and Germany and their long-lasting implications. Why has the college wage premium risen rapidly in the United States since the 1980s, but not in European economies such as Germany? We argue that differences in employment protection can account for much of the gap. We develop a model in which firms and workers make relationship-specific investments in skill accumulation. The incentive to invest is stronger when employment protection creates an expectation of long-lasting matches. We argue that changes in the economic environment have reduced relationship-specific investment for less-educated workers in the United States, but not for better-protected workers in Germany. Scientific Organiser(s): Prof. Alexander Monge-Naranjo (EUI - Department of Economics) Prof. Herman van de Werfhorst (European University Institute) Contact(s): Serena Belligoli (EUI, Development and External Relations) Speaker(s): Prof. Matthias Doepke (Northwestern University)