Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a discrete choice experiment (DCE) on the competencies of potential information technology (IT)-retrainees. The results give insights in the monetary value and relative returns to both soft and hard skills.

The authors apply a DCE in which the authors propose seven pairs of hypothetical candidates to employers based in the municipality of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. These hypothetical candidates differ on six observable skill attributes and have different starting wages. The authors use the inference from the DCE to calculate the marginal rates of substitution (MRS). The MRS gives an indication of the monetary value of each skill attribute.

Employers prefer a candidate who possesses a degree in an exact field over a similar candidate from another discipline. Programming experience from previous jobs is the most highly valued characteristic for an IT-retrainee. Employers would pay a candidate with basic programming experience a 53 percent higher starting wage. The most high-valued soft skill is listening skills, for which employers are willing to pay a 46 percent higher wage. The results of this paper show that both hard and soft skills are important, but not all soft skills are equally important.

The results on the returns to skills provide guidelines to tailor IT training and retraining programs to the needs of the business environment. A key strength of this paper is that the authors have information on the preference orderings for different skills and kinds of experience.

Using data for The Netherlands, this paper analyzes the relation between allocation, wages and job satisfaction. Five conclusions emerge from the empirical analysis: satisfaction with the job content is the main factor explaining overall job satisfaction; the effects of individual and job characteristics on job satisfaction differ by the aspect of the job considered; the response to a general question on job satisfaction differs from the response to questions on satisfaction with different aspects of the job; it is relevant to consider the joint relation between wages and job satisfaction; and skill mismatches do not seem to affect job satisfaction.

Compares the way women are taxed in the Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands by looking at both macro and micro data from the perspective of a wife′s contribution to family income. The programs used for analysis are included in an appendix. Taxing husbands and wives by adding joint incomes and dividing by two (as in Germany) penalises dual‐earner couples and favours one‐earner couples. Completely separate taxation (as in Sweden) is a major incentive for couples to be dual‐earner. In The Netherlands the government reform of the tax system (1990) has reduced negative tax effects on secondary earnings without introducing the positive effects seen in Sweden. Tax incentives are not the only determinant of women′s participation in the labour market.