Modelling Occupational Choice: Non-pecuniary Employment Attributes and Endogenous Preferences

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Abstract
This paper investigates occupational choice through a consideration of the deter minants of individual preferences related to non-pecuniary employment attributes. It is argued that tastes concerning such attributes are conditioned in part by family background, in particular the socio-economic class of individuals' parents. Such an approach represents a questioning of the implicit assumption of conventional labour economics that tastes are exogenous, or unrelated to economic characteristics. This, idea is subjected to empirical test through an examination of the job preferences of a large sample of young US males. With important qualifications the major hypotheses of the model are supported. The results cast doubt on the income maximisation framework of mainstream labour theory.

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