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This paper, the introductory chapter to a forthcoming book ("Financing Recurrent Education"), discusses the political and economic dimensions of life-long learning (recurrent education) and suggests methods by which a recurrent education system might be constructed and financed. The decline in youthful labor force entrants and forecasted changes in technology and the labor force are producing a need for a system that provides opportunities for education and training throughout the life cycle of workers. The author presents nine different motives for advocating the expansion of recurrent education and points out that this very diversity of approaches and motives may be the greatest political obstacle to its adoption and implementation. A bibliography is included. (MD/MLF)

This paper explores the following questions: Does the demand/supply allocation process affect the return migrants receive for their human capital attributes? Specifically, do returns to migration vary across places of destination, and does this variation reflect labor supply and demand differentials and/or other characteristics of places of destination? Analysis of the impact of selected characteristics of destinations on the socioeconomic attainment of migrants, using data for 1970 and changes between 1970 and 1976, reveals that substantial variation exists between Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA) with respect to annual earnings returns to occupational and educational attainment, and occupational attainment returns to educational attainment. The level of these returns not only declined across the board between 1970 and 1976, but between-SMSA variations increased as well. Analysis also indicates that SMSA differences in socioeconomic returns to migrants, particularly among the college educated, were more responsive to factors reflecting changing economic conditions than to those of nonmigrants in 1970, but changes in socioeconomic returns occurring during the 1970-76 period were not related to these factors for a smaller number of SMSA's. Tables illustrate the findings statistically. (Author/PS)

The future of low-wage jobs is examined through a case study of firm restructuring in the retail industry. The study confirms that the retailing sector has come to be dominated by the Wal-Mart model, which emphasizes an efficient technology-driven inventory management system and a human resource approach that includes the following elements: dead-end sales jobs with starting pay at or near minimum wage; small, nonguaranteed raises; constantly changing work schedules that define full-time employment as 28 hours per week; and few fringe benefits. Many analysts argue that a human resource strategy based on improving workers' skills and input could be viable in retail trade, yet the Wal-Mart model stresses fast service and cheap products rather than sales staff trained to provide quality customer service. Although technology has enabled the Wal-Mart model of efficiency, it has generally resulted in the elimination of sales and stocking jobs rather than in the upskilling of front-line retail jobs. Because retail workers receive an average of only 7 hours of training, they acquire few valuable skills that can be taken to the open market. Retail workers' upward mobility is also quite limited as firms are increasingly hiring outside workers to fill managerial slots. (Contains 66 references.) (MN)

Reasons for occupational mobility are imperfect occupational matching, search, exogenous changes in the market or in the person, and movement along a career path. A positive or negative relationship between the level of schooling and occupational mobility depends on the type of mobility involved. Higher levels of schooling lead to careers comprised of a smaller number of occupations, thus reducing the probability of other types of mobility. This negative effect of schooling decreases with time in the labor market. Schooling also has a negative effect on the probability of upward mobility. However, when a control for the occupation of origin is performed, it is found that among workers in the same occupational group, the more educated are more likely to move up. The schooling effect is much stronger on intra-firm career mobility ("promotion") than on inter-firm career mobility. Given job turnover, more educated workers are also more likely to move up. This observation is partially explained by the fact that among those who leave the firm, the ratio of quits to layoffs increases with the level of schooling and also by the fact that among workers who are laid off, the more educated are more likely to move up. In addition, if the returns to schooling (in terms of wages) are lower while working in a specific occupation, the effect of schooling on the probability of being promoted from that occupation will be higher. (17 references) (Author/YLB)

The dimensions and determinants of positional inequality in the American occupational structure are examined. Using data from the 1972-1973 Quality of Employment Survey, dimensions of occupational differentiation with multiple discriminant analysis are constructed and a causal model is developed to represent the interrelationships of those dimensions. It is found that the differentiation of intrinsic occupational rewards is attributable largely to the educational and task requirements of occupations, while union, supervisory, and organizational resources available to occupational groupings are the strongest determinants of the differentiation of extrinsic rewards. Implications of these findings for functional and conflict theories of inequality in occupational rewards are discussed. (Author/HD)

In this study, the occupational advancement of black and white workers of comparable ages is compared through longitudinal census data. Two specific hypotheses are tested which propose (1) large and systematic racial differentials exist in the effect of mobility on occupational advancement between firms; and (2) differentials in intrafirm occupational advancement exist for workers of equivalent endowments within firms. A model of occupational advancement along with empirical variables from two sources of longitudinal data are discussed. Results indicate that neither the young nor the old men in the sample provide evidence of a systematic racial differential in the effect of mobility between firms on occupational advancement. The evidence on advancement within firms is said to be less unequivocal. Given the racial differential in initial occupational levels, however, small black-white differences in advancement are shown to appear within internal labor markets. (AM)

This study addresses questions such as (1) the extent to which formal training determines occupational mobility, (2) evidence of racial differences in the returns to formal training in terms of occupational advancement, (3) importance of structural factors representing labor market segmentation in determining occupational mobility, (4) the impact of employer shifts on occupational advancement, (5) existence by race of differential returns to mobility between firms. Results indicate a strong relationship between occupational advancement and formal vocational training for both racial groups. Structural factors represented by initial industry and region of residence are found to have little or no effect on advancement. A more important factor is considered to be the white-black difference in endowment of education. No evidence for a racial differential in the impacts of industry and geographical shifts on occupational mobility is found. No evidence to support the hypothesis that black turnover fails to result in upgrading because of their confinement to secondary sector jobs is indicated. (Author/AM)

Unlike those of several of it major economic competitors, the U.S. system of preparation for work stresses educational attainment rather than qualitative standards or occupationally specific assessments of knowledge or skills. The resultant emphasis on longer education produces a more qualified work force, but the quest for longer schooling has not come cheaply. Spending figures suggest that inefficiency rather than insufficiency is a prime culprit of U.S. educational deficiencies. The evidence indicates that factors other than education also enhance economic growth. The causes of poor student performance continue to be intensely debated. Poverty and discrimination have been found to hinder educational and job opportunities significantly. Increased attention to basic skills rather than further specialization would increase overall economic flexibility and the career adaptability of individual workers. Labor shortages in specific occupations are more difficult to forecast than are broader skill deficiencies. Current explanations used by various education commissions downplay the pervasive influence of poverty and family deterioration. Employers are not devoting large amounts of money to worker training. The adoption of national achievement standards at each level of schooling is recommended. (52 endnotes) (YLB)

I investigate the importance of the match between teachers and schools for student achievement. I show that teacher effectiveness is higher after a move to a different school, and I estimate teacher-school match effects using a mixed effects estimator. Match quality can "explain away" a quarter of, and is as economically important as, teacher quality. Supporting models of worker mobility, teachers tend to exit schools with which match quality is low, and match quality is increasing in experience. This paper provides some of the first estimates of worker-firm match quality using output data as opposed to inferring productivity from wages or employment durations.

I use the 1993 and 2003 National Surveys of College Graduates to examine the higher exit rate of women compared to men from science and engineering relative to other fields. I find that the higher relative exit rate is driven by engineering rather than science, and show that 60% of the gap can be explained by the relatively greater exit rate from engineering of women dissatisfied with pay and promotion opportunities. Contrary to the existing literature, I find that family-related constraints and dissatisfaction with working conditions are only secondary factors. My results differ due to my use of non-science and engineering fields as a comparison group. The relative exit rate by gender from engineering does not differ from that of other fields once women's relatively high exit rates from male fields generally is taken into account.

In this paper it is argued that there are fundamental differences among labor markets in the mechanisms that create the observed associations between socioeconomic attainment and the characteristics of individuals, and that these differences result from the nature of the employment relationship in different labor markets. In open-employment relationships, which predominate in secondary labor markets, employees are exposed to competition from other workers, and marginal productivity/human capital theory applies. In closed-employment relationships, which characterize primary labor markets, employees are protected from competition, and change in attainment takes place when employees obtain access to vacant jobs better than their current job. Evidence for different types of employment relationships in different labor markets is obtained from an analysis of job shifts using life history data on white men aged 30-39 in 1969. This analysis focuses on the transition rates to better and worse jobs as a function of personal resources, current job rewards, and the type of employment relationship. (Author/GC)

This paper proposes a theory of the status attainment process, and specifies it in a mathematical model. The theory justifies a transformation of the conventional status scores to a metric that produces a exponential distribution of attainments, and a transformation of educational attainments to a metric that reflects the competitive advantage conferred by education. The new metric produces theoretically more meaningful results than the old metric when used together with the proposed model in an analysis of change in status; and also performs better statistically with the proposed model, as well as with conventional models for the level of status. An empirical analysis demonstrates that there are less favorable career opportunities for women compared to men and for blacks compared to whites. (Author)

The primary purpose of this paper is to improve on the specification of job experience as measured by current age, minus age at completion of formal schooling. The process of acquiring productive job skills was modeled by first focusing on the determination of the level of first-job occupation and then, given initial occupation, examining the determinants of occupational advancement. The impact of initial occupational level and occupational change on current (1966) wage rates were then examined. In the empirical analysis, separate equations for middle-aged black and white men were estimated to focus on racial differences in the acquisition of labor market experience. The primary finding is that it is work experience accompanied by occupational advancement, rather than work experience per se, that has an effect on the distribution of wage rates. (Author/HD)

Male and female academics have very different residence patterns. Women are concentrated in our largest urban centers; also, wherever they reside, women are less likely than men to switch communities when changing institutions. We indicate that much of this sex difference in location preference and movement pattern is attributable to the constraints under which married academic women must manage their careers; in particular, within the requirements of a dual-career household. Finally, we provide tentative evidence in support of the contention that the status difference between men and women in academia is attributable, in part, to the geographic limitations on the locations of married women, as these prevent making strategic job changes to advance career prospects. (Author)

Employing 1970 U.S. census data, tests were conducted to examine the empirical evidence on the existence of U.S. labor market segments. Some comparisons between the labor market for males and females were made, but the analysis concentrates on males. Labor markets were divided by race, sex, job types (secondary, primary subordinate, primary independent, and crafts) and industry types (public and private). The basic concern was with intra-segment economic position, defined as annual earnings. One hypothesis tested was that mobility between occupational and industrial segments is limited for blacks and whites and males and females. Data analysis revealed that white males have much higher upward mobility out of secondary labor markets than do blacks. Regression estimates demonstrated that schooling and age are significant correlates of upward mobility for males. In comparing male and female regression estimates by segment it was found that women receive lower salaries than men and generally get a lower pay-off to additional schooling and higher age. Overall study results, while neither proving nor disproving the existence of a segmented labor market, indicate considerable stability over a five-year period in types of jobs and industries people work in, large earnings differences among occupational segments and private industries, and the relationship among education, work experience, and earnings differing among job types but not between industry types. (CSS)

This study was designed to examine the relationship of certain achievement-related constructs to individual motivation for social and occupational mobility. The specific achievement-related behavior which was studied centered on the decision to take advantage of the opportunity to participate in a union-sponsored college program offered to non-professional employees. All of the workers had an equal opportunity to attend college through the program, so the research focused on the intragroup differences among persons of lower socioeconomic status as reflected in their choosing to adopt the achievement-related behavior of college attendance. Findings supported the hypotheses that the variables of occupational aspirations and expectation and educational aspiration and expectation make a significant contribution to the variance of the dependent variable of college attendance. A significant relationship between high job satisfaction and aspiration for advancement within current occupational field was shown for the college-attending subjects. (LRA)