Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/62360 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6728
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In this paper, we consider a model of on-the-job learning where workers learn informally by watching and imitating colleagues. We estimate the rate of knowledge diffusion inside the firm using two matched worker-firm data sets from Morocco and Senegal. We rely on non-linear least squares to estimate the structural parameters of the informal learning model and account for firm heterogeneity using firm factors derived from a principal component analysis. We find that the rate of knowledge diffusion is around 7 percent in Morocco and Senegal, but part of the learning-by-watching returns stems from firm heterogeneity. Informal training significantly affects the shape of returns to tenure in these two countries. Finally, we estimate an extended model with both learning-by-watching and learning-by-doing and find significant benefits from imitating colleagues in Morocco.
Subjects: 
earnings functions
informal training
learning-by-watching
learning-by-doing
returns to tenure
Morocco
Senegal
JEL: 
J24
J31
O12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
193.67 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.