Contributions To Economic Science
Mincer was considered by many to be a father of modern labor economics. As a leading member of a group of economists known as the Chicago School of Economics, Mincer and Nobel Laureate Gary Becker helped to develop the empirical foundations of human capital theory, consequently revolutionizing the field of labor economics.
During his academic career, Mincer authored four books and hundreds of journal articles, papers and essays. Mincer's ground-breaking work: Schooling, Experience and Earnings, published in 1974, used data from the 1950 and 1960 Censuses to relate income distribution in America to the varying amounts of education and on-the-job training among workers. "He calculated, for example, that annual earnings rose by 5 to 10 percent in the 1950's and 1960's for every year of additional schooling. There was a similar, although smaller, return on investment in job training—and age played a role."
Mincer's work continues to have a profound impact on the field of labor economics. Papers in the field frequently use Mincerian equations, which model wages as a function of human capital in statistical estimation. And as a result of Mincer's pioneering work, variables such as schooling and work experience are now the most commonly used measures of human capital.
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