Human Capital on the High Seas- Job Mobility and Returns to Technical Skill During Industrialization

This paper examines the effects of engineer-oriented and technical experience on job mo-bility during an era known for its rapid technological and capital advancements: the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Using longitudinal data on British and American naval officer- and engineer-careers, we demonstrate how ceteris paribus increases in the dis-tribution of current earnings decrease the probability of job switching. We also show how different forms of technical experience affect probabilities of job switching. Combining both insights and following a Topel and Ward (1992) based framework, we find various rates of return to engineering and technical experience comparable to rates of return found today. These are the earliest historic estimates of returns to any type of technical skill for an ad-vanced economy