Kevin Lang Boston University SBR-9515052 The research will combine elements of human capital and labor market segmentation models by looking at how human capital affects unemployment. Workers search for jobs and employers search for employees. In the first research project factors such as experience and seniority affect wages, turnover and unemployment. A possible extension to the basic research would look at how education affects wages and employment. A second project incorporates working conditions into the model. It considers whether differences in worker tastes or preferences can account for wage differentials and whether wage differentials can be viewed as compensating workers for taking jobs with less desirable working conditions. A third project addresses the importance of state labor market history on current state labor market conditions. It investigates whether economic booms have lasting effects or whether labor market conditions are influenced only by more recent experience.
