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Evidence on gender inequality in the labor market is extensive. However, little is known about the potential role of overeducation and horizontal mismatch in explaining women’s labor-market disadvantages. We draw on recent data from the Eurograduate pilot survey to investigate the role of overeducation, field-of-study mismatch and field-specific overskilling for gender gaps in labor income in the European landscape. We found considerable variations in the extent of both gender earning gaps (GEGs) and wage gaps (GWGs) across countries. However, our decomposition analyses show that neither overeducation nor horizontal mismatch contribute to explaining these gender gaps. The lack of mediation seems related to either the absence of gender differences in overeducation and horizontal mismatch, or to the nonexistence of income penalties associated with the mismatch.

College-educated workers in jobs unrelated to their degree generally receive lower wages compared to well-matched workers. Our analysis of data from the National Survey of College Graduates shows that although the rate of this mismatch declined only slightly (19% to 17%), the wage penalty increased by 51% between 1993 and 2019. Changes in the composition of field of study over time, as well as declining returns to "excess" education above what is required for the occupation both help to explain the increasing penalty, especially for women. Mismatch has become more closely associated with lowerreturn occupations for men but not women.

In this paper we systematically evaluate the impact of using the alternative methods conventionally used in the international literature on the measured incidence of educational mismatch and its earnings effects. We use a rich Australian longitudinal data set for a controlled group of full-time employed workers. Using panel data estimation, we address individual heterogeneity and measurement error, which are important in educational mismatch analysis. We show that alternative methods of measurement result in a range of estimates, with the Mode measure providing the most stable results across instrumental variables (IV) selections in panel fixed effects instrumental variables (FEIV) estimations. Based on the Mode measure, the incidence rate of over-education is 32.3%. The earnings penalty for each year of over-education is 2.5%, which is larger than 0.6% in fixed effect estimation and also larger than 1.9% in OLS estimations.

This paper investigates whether general formal education still helps youth avoid situations of unemployment and inactivity in favour of other labour force statuses (dependent employment, self-employment, education) across EU countries over the period 2006–2010. In a second step, we analyse whether the relationship between education and the labour statuses above is affected by different degrees of country-level education mismatch. Our results show that after the outbreak of the crisis and in countries with high educational mismatch there is an additional reduction in unemployment risk for highly educated people that is accompanied by a higher probability of being an employee than of remaining in education.

We propose a simple theory of under- and over-employment. Individuals of high type can perform both skilled and unskilled jobs, but only a fraction of low-type workers can perform skilled jobs. People have different non-pecuniary values over these jobs, akin to a Roy model. We calibrate two versions of the model to match moments of 17 OECD economies, considering separately education and skills mismatch. The cost of mismatch is 3% of output on average but varies between -1% to 9% across countries. The key variable that explains the output cost of mismatch is not the percentage of mismatched workers but their wage relative to well-matched workers.

This paper analyses changes in overeducation incidence in Poland in 2006‑2014. It finds that a rise in number of tertiary educated workers outpaced an increase in number of jobs requiring tertiary education, which resulted in a substantial growth of overeducation incidence. The overeducation increase was driven mainly by mild overeducation rather than severe overeducation. Overeducated workers are usually young with little job experience. Women are found at lower risk of severe overeducation compared to men, but relatively more at risk of mild overeducation. A low risk of overeducation is associated with having studied technical and health programmes.

In this paper we investigate whether education-job mismatches and growing occupational diversity are important explanatory factors of gender pay gaps among university graduates in Southern Europe (namely in Portugal, Spain, and Italy). In our analysis we use standard decomposition techniques and test the implications of controlling for selection bias. Our results indicate that overeducation and greater occupational segregation associated with the emergence of new graduate job profiles, are important determinants of earnings inequality. While our focus is on graduates’ early careers, demonstrating that occupational assignment and selection into employment shape gender pay gaps among the highly skilled provides a more pessimistic view on the ability of educational expansion or equal pay legislation to significantly reduce gender pay inequality. Southern European economies are also particularly interesting to look at since there may be a greater degree of mismatch between the pace of higher education expansion and the changes in the job structure, making women particularly vulnerable to overeducation.

The objective of this paper is to shed light on the issue of education mismatch in the context of return migration in Egypt and Tunisia. Using data on both return and non-migrants in Egypt and Tunisia, we analyze the skills that migrants acquire before and during migration and the way these skills are used upon return. We find evidence of education mismatch, especially in Tunisia. Finally, we estimate the determinants of education mismatch on the Egyptian and Tunisian labour markets and find a significant positive effect of return migration on the probability of being overeducated., L'objectif de cet article est d’apporter un éclairage sur la question de l'inadéquation éducative dans le cadre de la migration de retour en Egypte et en Tunisie. En utilisant à la fois des données sur les migrants de retour et sur les non-migrants en Égypte et en Tunisie, nous analysons les qualifications que les migrants acquièrent avant et pendant la période de migration et la façon dont ces compétences sont utilisées à leur retour. Nos résultats confirment l’existence d’un fort degré d'inadéquation éducative, en particulier en Tunisie. Enfin, nous examinons les déterminants de l'inadéquation éducative sur les marchés du travail égyptien et tunisien et trouvons que la migration de retour a un effet positif significatif sur la probabilité d’être sur-éduqué.

To stimulate economic advancement, low- and middle-income countries need well-educated and trained workforces to fill the types of skilled jobs that drive economic growth. Improving educational quality and attainment and providing better training are all rightly put forth as policy recommendations to leverage economic growth and job creation. However, new findings based on large scale surveys of adult skills from the World Bank Group’s STEP (Skills toward Employment and Productivity) Skills Measurement Program suggest that many workers are overqualified for their current jobs (based on the education those jobs require). The results of this study suggest that countries may not reap as much benefit from their investments in quality education and training if weak job creation leaves workers’ skills underutilized. Most of the literature on mismatch focuses on higher-income countries and rates of over-education among college graduates. Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries uses new STEP Skills Survey data from 12 low- and middle-income countries, representing a range of economic and educational and training climates, to better understand the scope and patterns of education and skills mismatch. STEP collects information not only on workers’ level of education and employment status, but also on the types, frequency, and durations of tasks they carry out at their jobs as well as some of the cognitive skills they use. The study also explores additional factors such as gender, health, career stage, and participation in the informal labor sector that may help explain the degree of mismatch rates. The study’s findings indicate that over-education is common in low and middle income countries with both lower and higher rates of educational attainment. There is also evidence that over-educated tertiary workers do not use all of their skills, potentially wasting valuable human capital and educational resources. Aimed at policy makers, business and education leaders, and employers, Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries suggests that job growth must go hand-in-hand with investments in education and training.

This paper analyses the influence of country-level education mismatch on the individual-level relationship between education and the probability of being unemployed or staying in alternative labour statuses, for young people aged 15-34 in 2006, 2008 and 2010, living in 21 EU countries. We assume that young people may fall in five labour market statuses: 1) Employee; 2) Self-employed; 3) Unemployed; 4) In Education; 5) Inactive, and perform a multinomial logit model to study the effects of years of education on relative probability of being in labour statuses 2, 3, 4, or 5, compared to the base category (Employee). Afterwards, we interact the individual-level years of education with a country-level indicator of education mismatch in order to identify the heterogeneous effects of the aggregate mismatch among people with different educational attainments. Results show that more years of education: i) reduce the relative probability of being unemployed; ii) have a cumulative effect by extending the period of education; iii) slightly raise the relative probability to be self-employed. As regards country-level education mismatch, we found that only after 2008 it produces an additional effect on better educated young people by further reducing their relative unemployment risk when it is compared to that of low educated youngsters. This outcome tells us that improving access to university degrees remains the main road to tackle youth unemployment caused by education mismatch, even after the outburst of the current financial and economic crisis.

This thesis is a collection of three independent but closely related studies. The focus is on the potential causes of skill mismatch, the extent of skill mismatch, the socio-demographic make-up of skill mismatch, and the consequences of skill mismatch in terms of earnings as well as employer sponsored adult education/training. A distinction is made between skill mismatch and education mismatch. All three studies use data from the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALLS) to investigate the relationships between select outcomes and skill supply-demand characteristics as well as their interactions which materialize into skill match-mismatch situations. The dataset contains direct measures of literacy skills as well as measures of the use of these skills at work which allow for a direct measure of literacy match-mismatch. The analysis points to the complex ways in which mismatch is generated and the need for an accurate and up to date measure of mismatch, one that reflects the possibilities for skill gain and skill loss over the lifespan, and reflects differences in the quality of qualifications. It also emphasizes that addressing mismatch requires a careful consideration of both the demand and supply sides of the labour market, so as to understand better the variety of factors which may have a negative impact on the effectiveness of skill formation, skill maintenance, and also skill use. Among the key findings: Skill demand characteristics appear to be as important as skill supply characteristics in explaining observed variation in earnings. There is a substantive association between the requirement to read at work and earnings, which is independent of whether individuals have high or low levels of literacy proficiency. Premiums associated with literacy skills are strongest in occupation types where they are most relevant, but premiums associated with the requirement to use those skills are nevertheless found to be strong within all occupational groups. The requirement to read at work seems to have a strong association with the incidence of participation in employer supported adult education/training. This has important implications for understanding better the relationship between how work is organized and the decision to further invest in human capital. This thesis is a collection of three independent but closely related studies. The focus is on the potential causes of skill mismatch, the extent of skill mismatch, the socio-demographic make-up of skill mismatch, and the consequences of skill mismatch in terms of earnings as well as employer sponsored adult education/training. A distinction is made between skill mismatch and education mismatch. All three studies use data from the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALLS) to investigate the relationships between select outcomes and skill supply-demand characteristics as well as their interactions which materialize into skill match-mismatch situations. The dataset contains direct measures of literacy skills as well as measures of the use of these skills at work which allow for a direct measure of literacy match-mismatch. The analysis points to the complex ways in which mismatch is generated and the need for an accurate and up to date measure of mismatch, one that reflects the possibilities for skill gain and skill loss over the lifespan, and reflects differences in the quality of qualifications. It also emphasizes that addressing mismatch requires a careful consideration of both the demand and supply sides of the labour market, so as to understand better the variety of factors which may have a negative impact on the effectiveness of skill formation, skill maintenance, and also skill use. Among the key findings: Skill demand characteristics appear to be as important as skill supply characteristics in explaining observed variation in earnings. There is a substantive association between the requirement to read at work and earnings, which is independent of whether individuals have high or low levels of literacy proficiency. Premiums associated with literacy skills are strongest in occupation types where they are most relevant, but premiums associated with the requirement to use those skills are nevertheless found to be strong within all occupational groups. The requirement to read at work seems to have a strong association with the incidence of participation in employer supported adult education/training. This has important implications for understanding better the relationship between how work is organized and the decision to further invest in human capital.

The accuracy of the match in the job-worker pairing is analyzed both in terms of education and in terms of qualification using Spanish data from the 2001 wave of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). Regarding the incidence of mismatch situations, the results suggest that the education match appears to be a rather poor indicator for the qualification match. In addition, ordered discrete choice models reveal that they have different consequences in terms of job satisfaction as well.