Time-Varying Occupational Contents

Abstract

By analyzing occupational task profiles, an occupational change can be split up into two components: (1) transferability of task portfolios between occupations and (2) change in the value of the occupation-employee match. Extending the task-based approach of Gathmann and Schönberg (2009) by relaxing their assumption of time-invariant occupational contents, I estimate the association of dynamic aspects of occupational task portfolios with individual wages for medium-skilled German workers in 1991 and 1998. Estimated wage returns to the components of an occupational change generally differ in short and long run, as well as in East and West Germany. Wage returns to the changes of task porfolios for the occupational stayers are estimated to be positive.