Preface

Abstract

Early models of the functional distribution of income assume constant labor productivity among all individuals. Not until human capital theory developed did scholars take into account how productivity varied across workers. According to early human capital models, this variation came about because each individual invested differently in education and training. Those acquiring greater amounts of schooling and on-the-job training earned more. However, these models neglected why one person would get training while another would not. One explanation is individual heterogeneity. Some individuals are smarter, some seek risk, some have time preferences for the future over the present, some simply are lucky by being in the right place at the right time, and some are motivated by the pay incentives of the jobs they are in. This volume contains 10 chapters, each dealing with an aspect of earnings. Of these, the first three deal directly with earnings distribution, the next four with job design and remuneration, the next two with discrimination, and the final chapter with wage rigidities in the labor market.

Citation

Polachek, S.W. and Tatsiramos, K. (2010), "Preface", Polachek, S.W. and Tatsiramos, K. (Ed.) Jobs, Training, and Worker Well-being (Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 30), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. xi-xvi. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0147-9121(2010)0000030003