Distinguished Fellow: Mincering Labor Economics

Jacob Mincer has helped set the research agenda and professional style in labor economics for over 30 years. His research helped uncover the empirical content of human capital theory, where he used those ideas to study the determinants of earnings and the sources and nature of earnings inequality. He was also a pioneer in studying labor force participation decisions of married women. For the past decade, Jacob has set his characteristic stamp on the empirical study of job mobility. The following brief survey is meant to convey some of the flavor of Jacob Mincer's work and why it has been so influential in labor economics.