Volume 20, Number 2 (Spring) 1985
Miller, Paul W., and Paul A. Volker. 1985. "On the Determination of Occupational Attainment and Mobility." Journal of Human Resources 20(2):197-213.
The underlying motivation for much of the research into the determinants of occupational attainment is to enable inferences to be made as to the relative position of various groups at a point in time, or an individual's economic mobility over time. In this paper we compare unordered and ordered discrete choice approaches to estimating models of occupational attainment. Estimates from these methods differ substantially, indicating that the determination of which technique is more appropriate is an important issue. The ordered method appears to be more consistent with the motivation of previous research and requires less computer time. Unordered models, however, are better able to predict occupational distribution.
Miller is a member of the Department of Economics faculty at the
University of Western Ontario. Volker is an economist with the Bureau of Labour
Market Research, Canberra.
The comments of two anonymous referees are gratefully
acknowledged. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be
attributed to the Bureau of Labour Market Research or the Australian Government.
© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X