Abstract: Romantic relationships in the workplace are common, but those between managers and subordinates have increasingly drawn scrutiny. Using administrative data on the universe of cohabiting couples in Finland, we examine the career implications of starting or ending a personal relationship with a workplace manager and the spillovers of these relationships on the broader workforce. An event study design reveals that entering a relationship with a manager increases the subordinate's earnings by 6%, but breaking up triggers an abrupt 18% earnings decline. We also find that these relationships generate spillovers: retention of other workers declines by six percentage points, with effects concentrated in workplaces where subordinates experience greater earnings gains. Our findings highlight both the private benefits and organizational costs of hierarchical workplace relationships.

Abstract: Children are exposed to different occupations depending on their parental background and which schools they attend. This paper uses population-wide administrative data to identify the long-term effects of occupational exposure in primary school on individuals’ future occupational choices. Broad exposure to peers with white collar parents increases the likelihood of entering a white collar occupation in adulthood and is driven by shifts in preferences rather than human capital. These effects are stronger at finer occupational levels, especially among elite professional occupations, and suggest strong homophily. Finally, these effects explain a substantial share of the intergenerational persistence of elite occupational attainment. 

Abstract: We estimate the earnings impacts of graduating into a recession across socioeconomic backgrounds through two innovations. First, given most people from low-income backgrounds do not attend university, we examine all education groups. We find large and persistent negative impacts on university graduates. In contrast, we only find short-run negative impacts for secondary and advanced-vocational graduates. Second, we find little evidence wealthier parents mitigate these income losses; small significant differences by parental background only appear for secondary graduates. We propose and test differential human capital accumulation on-the-job by education group and mobility as explanations for these results.