Relying on a 45-year-long panel data, we estimated a model which integrates heterogeneous income profile (HIP) into Mincer's human capital earnings function. Specifically, our model treats each person's earning stream as individual time-series, and exploits its temporal variation.With this approach, we examined how heterogeneity in life-cycle earning dynamics constitutes income premiums for university graduates. The results revealed notable gendered mechanisms. For men, university education increases post-school human capital investments (e.g., on-the-job learning and training), which leads to a higher lifetime earning. For highly educated women, the income premium is driven primarily by a greater earning capacity at age 25, and secondarily by a lower childbearing cost.
JEL Classification I24, I26, J24