RISING OCCUPATIONAL AND INDUSTRY MOBILITY IN THE UNITED STATES: 1968–97*

Abstract

We document and analyze the high level and the substantial increase in worker mobility in the United States over the 1968–97 period at various levels of occupational and industry aggregation. This is important in light of the recent findings that human capital of workers is largely occupation‐ or industry‐specific. To control for measurement error in occupation and industry coding, we develop a method that utilizes the PSID Retrospective Occupation‐Industry Supplemental Data Files. We emphasize the importance of our findings for understanding a number of issues such as the changes in wage inequality, aggregate productivity, job stability, and life‐cycle earnings profiles.