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The Money Value of a Man

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Huggett

    (Department of Economics, Georgetown University)

  • Greg Kaplan

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract
This paper posits a notion of the value of an individual’s human capital and the associated return on human capital. These concepts are examined using U.S. data on male earnings and financial asset returns. We decompose the value of human capital into a bond, a stock and a residual value component. We find that (1) the bond component of human capital is larger than the stock component at all ages, (2) the value of human capital is far below the value implied by discounting earnings at the risk-free rate, (3) mean human capital returns exceed stock returns early in life and decline with age and (4) human capital returns and stock returns have a small positive correlation over the working lifetime.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Huggett & Greg Kaplan, 2012. "The Money Value of a Man," PIER Working Paper Archive 12-014, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:12-014
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The value of human capital
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-06-01 19:10:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Huggett, Mark & Kaplan, Greg, 2011. "Human capital values and returns: Bounds implied by earnings and asset returns data," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(3), pages 897-919, May.
    2. Voelzke, Jan & Gößling, Fabian & Diesteldorf, Jeanne & Weigt, Till, 2017. "Investors' favourite - A different look at valuing individual labour income," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168065, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Mark Huggett & Greg Kaplan, 2016. "How Large is the Stock Component of Human Capital?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 22, pages 21-51, October.
    4. Luca Benzoni & Olena Chyruk, 2013. "Human Capital and Long-Run Labor Income Risk," Working Paper Series WP-2013-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    5. Luca Benzon & Olena Chyruk, 2015. "The Value and Risk of Human Capital," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 179-200, December.
    6. Yongsung Chang & Jay H. Hong & Marios Karabarbounis, 2018. "Labor Market Uncertainty and Portfolio Choice Puzzles," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 222-262, April.
    7. Sadegh Eshaghnia & James J. Heckman & Rasmus Landersø & Rafeh Qureshi, 2022. "Intergenerational Transmission of Family Influence," NBER Working Papers 30412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jan Voelzke & Jeanne Diesteldorf & Fabian Goessling & Till Weigt, 2017. "Investors' favourite - A different look at valuing individual labour income," CQE Working Papers 6017, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.
    9. Jeffrey Brown & Chichun Fang & Francisco Gomes, 2012. "Risk and Returns to Education," NBER Working Papers 18300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Yongsung Chang & Jay Hong & Marios Karabarbounis, 2013. "Life Cycle Uncertainty and Portfolio Choice Puzzles," 2013 Meeting Papers 595, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Brown, Jeffrey R. & Fang, Chichun & Gomes, Francisco, 2015. "Risks and returns to education over time," CFS Working Paper Series 512, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Value of Human Capital; Return on Human Capital; Asset Pricing; Idiosyncratic and Aggregate Risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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