This study estimates earnings function parameters across alternative occupational paths, with an emphasis on identifying rates of return to post-school human capital investment. Based on cross-sectional and synthetic cohort analysis using the 1973–2000 Current Population Surveys, estimates are...

Economists and sociologists have proposed arguments for why there can exist wage penalties for work involving helping and caring for others, penalties borne disproportionately by women. Evidence on wage penalties is neither abundant nor compelling. We examine wage differentials associated with...