Olga A. Ivanova Workers with Specialized or Universal Skills: Who are most Successful on the Domestic Labor Market?

Olga A. Ivanova Workers with Specialized or Universal Skills: Who are most Successful on the Domestic Labor Market? // Scientific Research of Faculty of Economics. Electronic Journal. 2019. Volume 11. Issue 1. P. 62-75

Abstract

This study examines the impact of professional specialization on career outcomes within the organization. The internal labor market creates favorable conditions for generalists, professionals with diverse experience: reduced information asymmetry about worker’s abilities suppress the influence of observable attributes, while diverse experience fosters knowledge breadth, cognitive complexity, and heterogeneous contracts within an organization necessary for the successful performance at senior managerial levels. Moreover, proximity to the organizational core provides access to important information and visibility, which increases promotion chances. Combining classical career models in the internal labor market with insights from modern research in human and social capital, the author offers an original model of the interaction between vertical, horizontal and radial labor mobility and demonstrates the mechanisms behind various career trajectories.

Key words: intrafirm labor mobility, job rotations, career, specialization, internal labor markets.

JEL codes: J240, J410, J620.