Occupational Mobility in Austria. Preferences and individual characteristics for the workers to undertake an occupational change

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Literature review

3 Occupational mobility: What is it and how to measure it

3.1 Definitions and differences

3.2 How to effectively measure occupational mobility?

4 Theoretical concepts

4.1 The idea of horizontal re-sorting matches

4.1.1 Role of human capital and occupational mobility

4.1.2 Firm size and occupational mobility

4.2 Concept of vertical re-sorting matches

5 Results overview of occupational mobility

5.1 Occupational mobility on the European level

5.2 Occupational mobility in France

5.3 Results of occupational mobility in Germany

5.4 Britain - occupational mobility results

5.5 Switches in occupation in Denmark

5.6 A look at occupational mobility in the United States

6 Reasons for occupational mobility

6.1 The role of worker’s individual characteristics for occupational movements

6.1.1 Workers’ individual characteristics at the European level

6.1.2 Individual factors of occupational changes in Britain and Germany

6.1.3 The individual causes of occupational changes in the US

6.2 The role of wages to change the occupation

6.3 The influence of previous occupations

6.4 Effect of the firm size on occupational mobility

7 Occupational movement of the workers

8 Austrian empirical results

8.1 Datasets

8.1.1 EU-LFS dataset

8.1.2 AUSSDA dataset

8.1.3 Restrictions and weaknesses

8.2 Occupational mobility rates

8.3 Occupational movements

8.4 Influence of individual characteristics on occupational changes

8.5 Reasons for workers to look for another job

9 Conclusion

Research Objectives and Themes

The main objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of occupational mobility, with a specific focus on the Austrian labor market. The research investigates the theoretical foundations of occupational movements and synthesizes empirical evidence from various countries to better understand the drivers behind workers changing their occupations, such as individual characteristics, wage differentials, and firm size.

• Theoretical modeling of occupational mobility (horizontal vs. vertical re-sorting).
• Comparative empirical overview of occupational mobility in Europe, France, Germany, Britain, Denmark, and the US.
• Empirical examination of occupational mobility in Austria using EU-LFS and AUSSDA datasets.
• Analysis of the influence of individual characteristics (age, gender, education) on occupational changes.
• Evaluation of firm size and previous employment history as drivers for occupational transitions.

Excerpt from the Book

Summary of Chapters

1 Introduction: Provides an overview of occupational mobility as a research field and outlines the thesis's core contributions regarding theoretical and empirical insights, specifically for Austria.

2 Literature review: Surveys existing economic literature on occupational mobility, distinguishing between horizontal and vertical re-sorting approaches and summarizing key international studies.

3 Occupational mobility: What is it and how to measure it: Defines occupational mobility, discusses measurement challenges, and clarifies the distinction between occupational changes and job changes.

4 Theoretical concepts: Details the theoretical frameworks of horizontal and vertical re-sorting matches, explaining how worker learning and ability affect occupational choices.

5 Results overview of occupational mobility: Presents an empirical overview of occupational mobility rates across Europe, France, Germany, Britain, Denmark, and the United States.

6 Reasons for occupational mobility: Investigates the determinants of occupational mobility, including worker characteristics, wages, previous occupations, and firm size.

7 Occupational movement of the workers: Explores transition matrices as a method to illustrate the direction and frequency of occupational movements between occupations.

8 Austrian empirical results: Details the empirical analysis of Austrian data, presenting mobility rates, transition matrices, and probit estimations of individual characteristics.

9 Conclusion: Summarizes the main findings of the thesis and suggests avenues for future research regarding occupational mobility.

Keywords

Occupational mobility, Labor market, Human capital, Occupational change, Wage inequality, Vertical re-sorting, Horizontal re-sorting, ISCO-08, Job transition, Austria, Probit model, Career change, Employment, Labor economics, Skill accumulation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the primary focus of this master’s thesis?

The thesis focuses on analyzing occupational mobility, defined as the movement of workers between different occupations, and provides the first explicit empirical study of this phenomenon within the Austrian labor market.

What are the main theoretical approaches to occupational mobility?

The literature identifies two main approaches: the horizontal re-sorting approach, which assumes workers move to better-paying jobs to improve their wage outcomes, and the vertical re-sorting approach, which allows for both upward and downward movements based on a worker's learning about their own ability.

Why is measuring occupational mobility difficult in practice?

Measurement is difficult because it depends on how occupations are classified (level of aggregation), how surveys define a "change," and whether researchers account for unemployment spells or differences in interviewing methods.

What is the key difference between a job change and an occupational change?

A job change is simply switching employers or roles, which may occur within the same occupation without losing occupation-specific human capital. An occupational change involves moving to a new field, often requiring new skills and resulting in a loss of accumulated occupation-specific human capital.

What primary methodology does the author use for the Austrian empirical part?

The author uses two datasets (EU-LFS and AUSSDA) to calculate occupational mobility rates at different digit-levels and employs probit regression models to analyze how individual characteristics influence the probability of an occupational switch.

Which factors are identified as major drivers of occupational changes?

The thesis identifies wages, individual demographic characteristics (age, gender, education), previous occupation, and the size of the firm as significant factors influencing a worker's decision to change their occupation.

What does the empirical analysis reveal about occupational mobility in Austria?

The analysis indicates that Austrian occupational mobility rates are relatively low compared to other countries, suggesting an efficient labor market where workers choose their occupations carefully and face significant frictions when changing them.

How does firm size influence occupational mobility?

The findings suggest that larger firms generally have lower separation rates, but they may facilitate higher internal occupational mobility because they provide more diverse internal job opportunities for workers to find a better match.