RT Book, Section SR 00 ID 10.1007/978-1-349-17203-0_21 A1 Arthur, W.B. T1 Age and Earnings in the Labour Market: Implications of the 1980s Labour Bulge YR 1983 FD 1983 SP 405 OP 419 AB Current theories offer conflicting guidance on how demographic changes in the labour force affect earnings and advancement over the working career. Human capital theory, as reflected in Welch (1978) for example, would predict that larger age cohorts than normal would earn less throughout their careers.1 If, as human-capital theory assumes, earnings are based on productivity, then the increased competition for complementary inputs must lower productivity and hence salaries. Members of larger labour cohorts will therefore have lower age-earnings profiles. T2 Human Resources, Employment and Development Volume 2: Concepts, Measurement and Long-Run Perspective PB Palgrave Macmillan PP UK T3 International Economic Association Series SN 978-1-349-17203-0 AV Published LK https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/14106/