This paper analyses returns to task specialization using a unique panel data set of professional football players in the German Bundesliga. Based on accumulated task-specific human capital, I measure whether a player is rather a specialist in one task or a generalist able to perform several tasks. Using OLS, fixed effects, and quantile regression methods (with individual fixed effects), I analyse the impact of specialization on remuneration. Differentiating by player role in team production, I find that core team members, i.e. starting players, exhibit positive returns to specialization, which increase at higher salary quantiles. In contrast, substitutes, in particular those in the lower half of the conditional salary distribution, seem to benefit from being generalists, which renders them more attractive as substitute players for their teams. The paper discusses implications of the findings for other labour market contexts.

中文翻译：

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特定任务的人力资本和专业化回报：来自足球协会的证据

本文使用德甲职业足球运动员的独特面板数据集分析任务专业化的回报。基于累积的特定任务人力资本，我衡量一个玩家是否是一项任务的专家，还是能够执行多项任务的通才。使用 OLS、固定效应和分位数回归方法（具有个体固定效应），我分析了专业化对薪酬的影响。按球员在团队生产中的角色进行区分，我发现核心团队成员，即首发球员，表现出对专业化的正回报，随着薪水分位数的增加而增加。相比之下，替补球员，特别是那些处于有条件工资分布下半部分的球员，似乎受益于成为多面手，这使得他们作为球队的替补球员更具吸引力。