Kenneth R Troske
Biographic Data
| ID | 1044503 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kenneth R Troske |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kenneth R |
| FAMILY NAME | Troske |
| SIGNATURE | TROSKE K R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Kentucky |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6633-8544 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Estimates of earnings returns by field of study for-profit schools and community colleges
We estimate labor-market returns for students pursuing certificates or associate’s degrees in eight broad fields of study at for-profit institutions and community colleges. The data contain 400,000 students beginning their studies between 2005 and 2012 in one state. We estimate two-step models to address recent econometric concerns with two-way fixed-effects models. Our analyses show important differences in return by field, with similar patterns…
Evaluation of a new job training program: Code Louisville
KYSTATS maintains the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System in which the Code Louisville participants have been matched. We maintain a record of such individuals included in this study. Research data are not shared. Data will be maintained for 5 years. Researchers may contact the KYSTATS executive director Matt Berry [email protected] or [email protected] to inquire about replicating or extending these results subject to permission from the data owne…
Labor Market Returns to the GED Using Regression Discontinuity Analysis
We evaluate returns to General Educational Development (GED) certification for high school dropouts using state administrative data. We apply a fuzzy regression discontinuity method to account for test takers retaking the test. For women we find that GED certification has no statistically significant effect on either employment or earnings. For men we find a significant increase in earnings in the second year after taking the test but no impact i…
The Labor-Market Returns to Community College Degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates
This article provides one of the first rigorous estimations of the labor-market returns to community college certificates and diplomas, as well as estimations of the returns to the more commonly studied associate’s degrees. Using administrative data from Kentucky, we estimate panel-data models that control for differences among students in precollege earnings and educational aspirations. Associate’s degrees and diplomas have quarterly earnings re…
Estimating the social value of higher education: Willingness to pay for community and technical colleges
Much is known about private financial returns to education in the form of higher earnings. Less is known about how much social value exceeds this private value. Associations between education and socially-desirable outcomes are strong, but disentangling the effect of education from other causal factors is challenging. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the social value of one form of higher education. We elicit willingness to pay for the Ke…
Lessons from other countries, and rethinking (slightly) unemployment insurance as social insurance against the Great Recession
Addressing the employment situation in the aftermath of the Great Recession
Using State Administrative Data to Measure Program Performance
We use administrative data from Missouri to examine the sensitivity of earnings impact estimates for a job training program based on alternative nonexperimental methods. We consider regression adjustment, Mahalanobis distance matching, and various methods using propensity-score matching, examining both cross-sectional estimates and difference-in-difference estimates. Specification tests suggest that the difference-in-difference estimator may prov…
Welfare to Temporary Work: Implications for Labor Market Outcomes
We explore the effects of temporary help employment on welfare recipients' subsequent employment and welfare dynamics. We find that any employment—in temporary help services or other sectors—yields substantial benefits compared to no employment. Although welfare recipients who go to work for temporary help service firms have lower initial wages than those with jobs in other sectors, they experience faster subsequent wage growth. Two years later, …
Technology Adoption and the Skill Mix of Us Manufacturing Plants
This paper examines the relationship between technology adoption and the skill mix of the workforce in US manufacturing plants. Using information on the use and adoption of seven different information technologies, we find that the relationship between technology adoption and workforce skill varies across the technologies. The use and adoption of engineering and design tasks are associated with workplaces that have a relatively large share of non…
New Evidence on Sex Segregation and Sex Differences in Wages from Matched Employee‐Employer Data
We assemble a new matched employer-employee data set covering essentially all industries and occupations across all regions of the U.S. We use this data set to re-examine the question of the relative contributions to the overall sex gap in wages of sex segregation vs. wage differences by sex within occupation, industry, establishment, and occupation-establishment cells. This new data set is especially useful because earlier research on this topic…
Politiques salariales et performances des entreprises: Une comparaison France/États-Unis
La plupart des théories spécifiant le mode de détermination du salaire (salaire d’efficience, négociation salariale, etc.) apparues au cours des 20 dernières années cherchent à caractériser des situations éloignées du modèle de concurrence parfaite. Les tests empiriques de ces différentes théories se sont révélés jusqu’à présent peu concluants. L’absence de données caractérisant simultanément la situation des travailleurs et celle de l’entreprise…
Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant‐Level Production Functions and Wage Equations
We use a unique new data set that combines data on individual workers and their employers to estimate marginal productivity differentials among different types of workers. We then compare these to estimated relative wages, leading to new evidence on productivity‐based and nonproductivity‐based explanations of the determination of wages. Among our findings are (1) the higher pay of prime‐aged workers (aged 35–54) and older workers (aged 55+) is re…
Evidence on the Employer Size-Wage Premium from Worker-Establishment Matched Data
In spite of the large and growing importance of the employer size-wage premium, previous attempts to account for this premium using observable worker or employer characteristics have had limited success. The problem is that, while most theoretical explanations for the size-wage premium are based on the matching of employers and employees, previous empirical work has relied on either worker surveys with little information about the employer, or es…
Sex Segregation in U.S. Manufacturing
This study of interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry improves on previous work by using more detailed information on the characteristics of both workers and firms and adopting an improved measure of segregation. The data source is the Worker-Establishment Characteristics Database (a U.S. Census Bureau database) for 1990. There are three main findings. First, interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry is s…
Workers, Wages, and Technology
This paper documents how plant-level wages, occupational mix, workforce education, and productivity vary with the adoption and use of new factory automation technologies such as programmable controllers, computer-automated design, and numerically controlled machines. Our cross-sectional results show that plants that use a large number of new technologies employ more educated workers, employ relatively more managers, professionals, and precision-c…
On Measuring Segregation in Samples With Small Units
Standard indexes of segregation measure a sample's distance from evenness, which occurs when each sample unit (e.g., an occupation) has the population share of both the minority and majority groups. We show that random allocation of individuals to units generates substantial unevenness among small units and hence that standard segregation indexes reflect random allocation as well as systematic group segregation. We then modify two popular indexes…
Sex Segregation in U.S. Manufacturing
This study of interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry improves on previous work by using more detailed information on the characteristics of both workers and firms and adopting an improved measure of segregation. The data source is the Worker-Establishment Characteristics Database (a U.S. Census Bureau database) for 1990. There are three main findings. First, interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry is s…
Estimating the social value of higher education: Willingness to pay for community and technical colleges
Much is known about private financial returns to education in the form of higher earnings. Less is known about how much social value exceeds this private value. Associations between education and socially-desirable outcomes are strong, but disentangling the effect of education from other causal factors is challenging. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the social value of one form of higher education. We elicit willingness to pay for the Ke…
Labor Market Returns to the GED Using Regression Discontinuity Analysis
We evaluate returns to General Educational Development (GED) certification for high school dropouts using state administrative data. We apply a fuzzy regression discontinuity method to account for test takers retaking the test. For women we find that GED certification has no statistically significant effect on either employment or earnings. For men we find a significant increase in earnings in the second year after taking the test but no impact i…
Technology Adoption and the Skill Mix of Us Manufacturing Plants
This paper examines the relationship between technology adoption and the skill mix of the workforce in US manufacturing plants. Using information on the use and adoption of seven different information technologies, we find that the relationship between technology adoption and workforce skill varies across the technologies. The use and adoption of engineering and design tasks are associated with workplaces that have a relatively large share of non…
Politiques salariales et performances des entreprises: Une comparaison France/États-Unis
La plupart des théories spécifiant le mode de détermination du salaire (salaire d’efficience, négociation salariale, etc.) apparues au cours des 20 dernières années cherchent à caractériser des situations éloignées du modèle de concurrence parfaite. Les tests empiriques de ces différentes théories se sont révélés jusqu’à présent peu concluants. L’absence de données caractérisant simultanément la situation des travailleurs et celle de l’entreprise…
Workers, Wages, and Technology
This paper documents how plant-level wages, occupational mix, workforce education, and productivity vary with the adoption and use of new factory automation technologies such as programmable controllers, computer-automated design, and numerically controlled machines. Our cross-sectional results show that plants that use a large number of new technologies employ more educated workers, employ relatively more managers, professionals, and precision-c…
On Measuring Segregation in Samples With Small Units
Standard indexes of segregation measure a sample's distance from evenness, which occurs when each sample unit (e.g., an occupation) has the population share of both the minority and majority groups. We show that random allocation of individuals to units generates substantial unevenness among small units and hence that standard segregation indexes reflect random allocation as well as systematic group segregation. We then modify two popular indexes…
Sex Segregation in U.S. Manufacturing
This study of interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry improves on previous work by using more detailed information on the characteristics of both workers and firms and adopting an improved measure of segregation. The data source is the Worker-Establishment Characteristics Database (a U.S. Census Bureau database) for 1990. There are three main findings. First, interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry is s…
Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant‐Level Production Functions and Wage Equations
We use a unique new data set that combines data on individual workers and their employers to estimate marginal productivity differentials among different types of workers. We then compare these to estimated relative wages, leading to new evidence on productivity‐based and nonproductivity‐based explanations of the determination of wages. Among our findings are (1) the higher pay of prime‐aged workers (aged 35–54) and older workers (aged 55+) is re…
Evidence on the Employer Size-Wage Premium from Worker-Establishment Matched Data
In spite of the large and growing importance of the employer size-wage premium, previous attempts to account for this premium using observable worker or employer characteristics have had limited success. The problem is that, while most theoretical explanations for the size-wage premium are based on the matching of employers and employees, previous empirical work has relied on either worker surveys with little information about the employer, or es…
Politiques salariales et performances des entreprises: Une comparaison France/États-Unis
La plupart des théories spécifiant le mode de détermination du salaire (salaire d’efficience, négociation salariale, etc.) apparues au cours des 20 dernières années cherchent à caractériser des situations éloignées du modèle de concurrence parfaite. Les tests empiriques de ces différentes théories se sont révélés jusqu’à présent peu concluants. L’absence de données caractérisant simultanément la situation des travailleurs et celle de l’entreprise…
New Evidence on Sex Segregation and Sex Differences in Wages from Matched Employee‐Employer Data
We assemble a new matched employer-employee data set covering essentially all industries and occupations across all regions of the U.S. We use this data set to re-examine the question of the relative contributions to the overall sex gap in wages of sex segregation vs. wage differences by sex within occupation, industry, establishment, and occupation-establishment cells. This new data set is especially useful because earlier research on this topic…
Welfare to Temporary Work: Implications for Labor Market Outcomes
We explore the effects of temporary help employment on welfare recipients' subsequent employment and welfare dynamics. We find that any employment—in temporary help services or other sectors—yields substantial benefits compared to no employment. Although welfare recipients who go to work for temporary help service firms have lower initial wages than those with jobs in other sectors, they experience faster subsequent wage growth. Two years later, …
Technology Adoption and the Skill Mix of Us Manufacturing Plants
This paper examines the relationship between technology adoption and the skill mix of the workforce in US manufacturing plants. Using information on the use and adoption of seven different information technologies, we find that the relationship between technology adoption and workforce skill varies across the technologies. The use and adoption of engineering and design tasks are associated with workplaces that have a relatively large share of non…
Using State Administrative Data to Measure Program Performance
We use administrative data from Missouri to examine the sensitivity of earnings impact estimates for a job training program based on alternative nonexperimental methods. We consider regression adjustment, Mahalanobis distance matching, and various methods using propensity-score matching, examining both cross-sectional estimates and difference-in-difference estimates. Specification tests suggest that the difference-in-difference estimator may prov…
Lessons from other countries, and rethinking (slightly) unemployment insurance as social insurance against the Great Recession
Addressing the employment situation in the aftermath of the Great Recession
The Labor-Market Returns to Community College Degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates
This article provides one of the first rigorous estimations of the labor-market returns to community college certificates and diplomas, as well as estimations of the returns to the more commonly studied associate’s degrees. Using administrative data from Kentucky, we estimate panel-data models that control for differences among students in precollege earnings and educational aspirations. Associate’s degrees and diplomas have quarterly earnings re…
Estimating the social value of higher education: Willingness to pay for community and technical colleges
Much is known about private financial returns to education in the form of higher earnings. Less is known about how much social value exceeds this private value. Associations between education and socially-desirable outcomes are strong, but disentangling the effect of education from other causal factors is challenging. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the social value of one form of higher education. We elicit willingness to pay for the Ke…
Labor Market Returns to the GED Using Regression Discontinuity Analysis
We evaluate returns to General Educational Development (GED) certification for high school dropouts using state administrative data. We apply a fuzzy regression discontinuity method to account for test takers retaking the test. For women we find that GED certification has no statistically significant effect on either employment or earnings. For men we find a significant increase in earnings in the second year after taking the test but no impact i…
Estimates of earnings returns by field of study for-profit schools and community colleges
We estimate labor-market returns for students pursuing certificates or associate’s degrees in eight broad fields of study at for-profit institutions and community colleges. The data contain 400,000 students beginning their studies between 2005 and 2012 in one state. We estimate two-step models to address recent econometric concerns with two-way fixed-effects models. Our analyses show important differences in return by field, with similar patterns…
Evaluation of a new job training program: Code Louisville
KYSTATS maintains the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System in which the Code Louisville participants have been matched. We maintain a record of such individuals included in this study. Research data are not shared. Data will be maintained for 5 years. Researchers may contact the KYSTATS executive director Matt Berry [email protected] or [email protected] to inquire about replicating or extending these results subject to permission from the data owne…
Economics (14 works) · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality (9 works) · Labour economics (8 works) · Mathematics (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Demographic economics (7 works) · Statistics (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Earnings (6 works) · Sociology (6 works)