This paper assesses the extent of inter-firm transferability for the skills developed by white-collar employees in the Portuguese banking sector. By assuming that new em-ployers will recognise non-negative rewards to transferable skills, we measure skill transferability through the amount of wage premium recognised to firm changers compared to firm stayers. Based on “Quadros de Pessoal”, a longitudinal archive of linked employer-employee data on the Portuguese labour market, our results show support the hypothesis of partial inter-firm and inter-industry transferability of skills. Compared to firm stayers, firm changers benefit from a wage premium not only when they move to other banking firms, but also when they find a new job in different industries. However, the wage premium quickly reduces with the distance from the original sector and eventually turns into a wage loss.
The value of transferable skills
SGOBBI, Francesca;
2012-01-01
Abstract
This paper assesses the extent of inter-firm transferability for the skills developed by white-collar employees in the Portuguese banking sector. By assuming that new em-ployers will recognise non-negative rewards to transferable skills, we measure skill transferability through the amount of wage premium recognised to firm changers compared to firm stayers. Based on “Quadros de Pessoal”, a longitudinal archive of linked employer-employee data on the Portuguese labour market, our results show support the hypothesis of partial inter-firm and inter-industry transferability of skills. Compared to firm stayers, firm changers benefit from a wage premium not only when they move to other banking firms, but also when they find a new job in different industries. However, the wage premium quickly reduces with the distance from the original sector and eventually turns into a wage loss.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
