Using data on adults’ cognitive skills from 19 countries, this paper shows that labor market conditions during the education-to-work transition impact workers’ long-term skill development. Workers who faced higher unemployment rates at ages 18-25 have lower skills at ages 36-59. Unemployment rates at ages 26-35 do not have such an effect. Skill inequality is affected: those with less educated parents experience most of the negative effects. Using German panel data on skills, I document a mechanism related to heterogeneous skill development across firms: young workers at large firms experience higher skill growth than those at small firms.

中文翻译：

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进入时劳动力市场条件对工人长期技能的影响

本文使用来自 19 个国家的成人认知技能数据表明，教育向工作过渡期间的劳动力市场状况会影响工人的长期技能发展。在 18-25 岁面临较高失业率的工人在 36-59 岁时技能较低。26-35 岁的失业率没有这种影响。技能不平等受到影响：父母受教育程度较低的人会受到大部分负面影响。使用德国技能面板数据，我记录了与跨公司异质技能发展相关的机制：大公司的年轻工人比小公司的年轻工人经历了更高的技能增长。