| Abstract: |
In sport and education contexts, children are divided into age-groups which
are arbitrary constructions based on the admission dates. This age-group
system is thought to determine differences in maturity between pupils within
the same group, that is, relative age (RA). In turn, these within-age-group
maturity differences produce performance gaps, that is, relative age effects
(RAE), which might persist and affect the labor market outcome. I analyze the
RAE on labor market outcomes using a unique dataset providing information on a
particular group of high skilled workers: soccer players in the Italian major
soccer league. In line with previous studies, evidence on the existence of RAE
in terms of representativeness is found, meaning that players born relatively
early in the age-group are over-represented, while players born relatively
late are under-represented, even accounting for specific population trends.
Moreover, players born relatively late in the age-group receive lower gross
wages than players born relatively early. This wage gap seems to increase with
age and in the quantile of the wage distribution. |