Measuring human capital in the labor market: The supply of experience in 8 OECD countries

To investigate the evolution of the supply side of the labor market, I derive a methodology to measure an important component of the human capital level of the workforce, the experience of the labor market. Based on the perpetual inventory method, a stock of experience is estimated for eight OECD countries. It appears that, during the last three decades, the OECD labor markets have faced a decline in the supply of experience by the labor market participants, with a minimum in the early 1980s for most countries and a recovery in the 1990s. Some implications regarding relative wages, relative unemployment and schooling are discussed.