TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bils,Mark
AU  - McLaughlin,Kenneth J.
TI  - Inter-Industry Mobility and the Cyclical Upgrading of Labor
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4130
PY  - 1992
Y2  - August 1992
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4130
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4130.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Mark Bils
Department of Economics
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627
Tel: 585/275-0488
Fax: 585/256-2309
E-Mail: bils@troi.cc.rochester.edu

Kenneth J. McLaughlin
Department of Economics
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY   14627
Tel: NA
AB  - We investigate whether a market-clearing model of the labor market is consistent with the cyclical upgrading of labor: workers tend to move to higher paying industries in expansions and to lower paying industries in contractions. By applying Roy's (1951) model of self-selection to industry fluctuations, we show that cyclical upgrading can be consistent with market clearing. Applying the model to inter-industry mobility patterns in panel data, we find data of substantial selection by comparative advantage. However, the panel data reveal a selection process that is consistent with cyclical upgrading. Thus the model does not simultaneously account for interindustry mobility in panel data and cyclical upgrading.
ER  -