Full Citation
Title: Three Essays in Productivity and Earnings
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2019
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Abstract: This dissertation revolves around the study of worker productivity and earnings. Chapters 1 and 3 revolve around the study of incentives for employee performance. Specifically, I look to understand how two contract elements impact employee effort. Using the context of the Major League Baseball (MLB) player market, the first chapter looks at how multi-year contracts impact player performance. Because salary is guaranteed, players with multiple years remaining on their contracts may not have sufficient incentive to perform at a high level because the next contracts the players will sign are far off into the future. The third chapter focuses on a related contract component, contract options. If a contract has an option, that option lays out terms for an additional year of contract that may become guaranteed at the discretion of one or both parties to the agreement. When a player’s contract has a club option, this may disincentivize player effort because the player cannot fully reap the benefits of high performance during the guaranteed years of the contract and receives a buyout if the option is not exercised. The second chapter looks to understand how a specific choice made within college, the choice to double major, subsequently impacts earnings. Human capital theory would suggest that completing a second major would improve worker productivity, which should subsequently increase earnings. Signaling or sorting models would suggest that if completing a double major conveys information to an employer about a student, possibly that he or she is of high ability or exerts high effort, the double major should increase earnings.
Url: https://search.proquest.com/docview/2284673711/abstract/68754BFFBBD1461BPQ/1?accountid=14586
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Authors: Paulsen, Richard Joseph
Institution: Northeastern University
Department: Economics
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Publisher Location: Massachusetts
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure
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