000001323 001__ 1323 000001323 005__ 20240523045441.0 000001323 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.6082/uchicago.1323 000001323 041__ $$aen 000001323 245__ $$aSector-Specific Human Capital and the Effects of Job Displacement 000001323 260__ $$bThe University of Chicago 000001323 269__ $$a2017-06 000001323 300__ $$a84 000001323 336__ $$aDissertation 000001323 502__ $$bPh.D. 000001323 520__ $$aJob loss has a permanent negative effect on life-time earnings and, in general, on labor market outcomes of workers. This negative effect is larger if job loss happens in recession than the case of job loss during expansion. In this paper, using linked employer--employee data of Germany from 1975 to 2014, I show that about $55\%$ of the variation in earning loss is accounted for by negative sectoral performance. Intuitively, earning losses associated with job loss are greater during recessions, because the average displaced worker in a recession comes from an industry with poor performance relative to the average industry which makes sector-specific skills less valuable. In other words, recessions are not only periods of more job loss but also periods with more sectors of very poor performance. Hence, workers displaced in recessions are, on average, more likely to struggle with lack of demand for their skills. By building a model of sector-specific human capital, it is shown how loss of sector-specific human capital can explain huge and persistent earning and wage loss of displaced workers. In addition, it is shown that concentration of displaced workers in severely declining sectors during recessions is a potential explanation for larger earning loss in recessions than job-losses in expansions. 000001323 542__ $$fUniversity of Chicago dissertations are covered by copyright. 000001323 650__ $$aEconomics 000001323 650__ $$aLabor economics 000001323 653__ $$aBusiness Cycle 000001323 653__ $$aDisplacement 000001323 653__ $$aJob loss 000001323 653__ $$aSector-Specific Human Captial 000001323 653__ $$aWage loss 000001323 690__ $$aSocial Sciences Division 000001323 691__ $$aKenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics 000001323 7001_ $$aJoshaghani, Hosein$$uUniversity of Chicago 000001323 72012 $$aSteven J. Davis 000001323 72014 $$aRobert Shimer 000001323 72014 $$aAmir Kermani 000001323 8564_ $$93f857807-21a2-446d-89a9-2083c4fbea91$$s4855659$$uhttps://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/1323/files/Joshaghani_uchicago_0330D_13628.pdf$$eEmbargo (2019-06-20) 000001323 909CO $$ooai:uchicago.tind.io:1323$$pDissertations$$pGLOBAL_SET 000001323 983__ $$aDissertation