I show that in a conventional Ramsey model, between one-fourth and one-half of the global income distribution can be explained by a single factor: The effect of large, persistent differences in national average IQ on the private marginal product of labor. Thus, differences in national average IQ...

This paper develops and implements a semiparametric estimator for investigating, with panel data, the importance of human capital accumulation, non-separable preferences of females and child care costs on females life-cycle fertility and labor supply behaviors. It presents a model in which the...

In this paper we document substantial returns to occupational tenure. Everything else being constant, ten years of occupational tenure are likely to increase wages by at least $19\%$. Moreover, we show that when occupational experience is taken into account, tenure with an industry or an...

A large number of pairs of countries exhibit a dynamic pattern in which: (i) Fertility in both countries declines across time; (ii) Initially one country has higher fertility and lower per-capita income compared to the other; (iii) In time, as per-capita income converges, fertility rates in the...

Previous studies assume that labor market skills are either fully general or specific to a firm. This paper uses patterns in mobility and wages to the transferability of specific skills across occupations. The empirical analysis combines information on tasks performed in different occupations...