RISK AND CAREER CHOICE.
Item
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Title
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RISK AND CAREER CHOICE.
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Identifier
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AAI8203321
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identifier
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8203321
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Creator
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SANDERS, HYMAN.
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Contributor
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Prof. Michael Grossman
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Economics, Labor
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Abstract
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This dissertation seeks to determine what motivates individuals to select particular careers by testing how sensitive labor force entrants are to measures of monetary return and monetary risk characterizing these careers. Census data are analyzed for specific migration patterns between occupations, and several criteria are developed to permit related Census occupations to be aggregated into careers. Changes in the distribution of white male entrants into the labor force are then examined by aggregating data across these constructed careers from the 1960 Census of Population and the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity. Assuming the earnings distributions for the careers are normal, monetary risk can be depicted by measures of dispersion.;The regression results demonstrate that entrants prefer occupations with higher expected incomes, and shy away from those whose earnings streams are more volatile. Individuals assign much greater importance to the return than to the career risk, however. With respect to earnings variation, the evidence suggests that the risk relating to entrants' income is weighted more heavily than that applicable to prime age workers. Other factors hypothesized to influence individuals' preferences--occupation growth, mean education levels, expected hours and weeks of employment, union coverage, and the probability of suffering work-related disability--enter the analysis with the expected signs.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Economics
