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Over-education: What influence does the workplace have?

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  • Belfield, Clive

Abstract

The wage and job satisfaction impacts for over-educated workers have been well-documented; yet little attention has been paid to the consequences for firms. In this paper we examine over-education from the perspective of the workplace. Using linked employer-employee data for the United Kingdom, we derive the standard worker-level penalties on wages and job satisfaction. We then show how over-education rates across workplaces adversely influence workplace pay and workplace labor relations. For individual workers who may be at-risk of over-education, we also distinguish between workforce composition effects and workplace labor practices, such as hiring. The effect of over-education on job satisfaction is particularly strong and its effects are evident at the workplace level. Our results suggest that investigations of over-education at the level of the firm are a promising area of inquiry.

Suggested Citation

  • Belfield, Clive, 2010. "Over-education: What influence does the workplace have?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 236-245, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:29:y:2010:i:2:p:236-245
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    Cited by:

    1. Budría, Santiago & Martínez de Ibarreta, Carlos, 2020. "Educational and Skills Mismatches among Immigrants: The Impact of Host Language Proficiency," IZA Discussion Papers 13030, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Kiersztyn, Anna, 2013. "Stuck in a mismatch? The persistence of overeducation during twenty years of the post-communist transition in Poland," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 78-91.
    3. Zainizam Zakariya & Kristinn Hermanssons & Kho Yin Yin & Noor Fazlin Mohamed Noor, 2019. "Regional Economic Growth in Malaysia: Does Aggregate Overqualification Matter?," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(5), pages 139-156, December.
    4. McGuinness, Seamus & Pouliakas, Konstantinos & Redmond, Paul, 2017. "How Useful Is the Concept of Skills Mismatch?," IZA Discussion Papers 10786, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Zainizam Zakariya & Khoo Yin Yin, 2016. "Over- and Underskilling in the Malaysian Labour Market: Evidence from the 2003–2012 Labour Force Survey (LFS)," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(11), pages 203-223, November.
    6. Ana Isabel Moro-Egido, 2020. "Gender Differences in Skill Mismatches," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 235(4), pages 29-60, December.
    7. Theresa Geißler & Laszlo Goerke, 2023. "Educational Mismatch and Labour Market Institutions: The Role of Gender," Working Papers 2023.14, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    8. Budría, Santiago & Martínez-de-Ibarreta, Carlos, 2021. "Education and skill mismatches among immigrants: The impact of host language proficiency," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. David Boto-García & Marta Escalonilla, 2022. "University education, mismatched jobs: are there gender differences in the drivers of overeducation?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 861-902, October.
    10. Seamus McGuinness & Konstantinos Pouliakas & Paul Redmond, 2018. "Skills Mismatch: Concepts, Measurement And Policy Approaches," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 985-1015, September.
    11. Oliver Fabel & Razvan Pascalau, 2013. "Recruitment of Seemingly Overeducated Personnel: Insider--Outsider Effects on Fair Employee Selection Practices," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 57-82, February.
    12. Kostas Mavromaras & Seamus McGuinness & Nigel O'Leary & Peter Sloane & Zhang Wei, 2013. "Job Mismatches and Labour Market Outcomes: Panel Evidence on University Graduates," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(286), pages 382-395, September.
    13. Yeasung Jeong & Ayoung Lee & Joonmo Cho, 2018. "Educational mismatches and job resolution in South Korea, the USA, and Germany," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 32(2), pages 95-108, November.
    14. Berhe Mekonnen Beyene and & Tsegay Gebrekidan Tekleselassie, 2018. "The State, Determinants, and Consequences of Skills Mismatch in the Ethiopian Labour Market," Working Papers 021, Policy Studies Institute.
    15. Issofou Njifen, 2024. "Education-Job mismatch, earnings and worker’s satisfaction in African labor market: evidence from Cameroon," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 41(3), pages 931-962, October.
    16. Berloffa, Gabriella & Piazzalunga, Daniela & Pieri, Fabio, 2024. "Firm Human Resource Practices and Educational Mismatch," IZA Discussion Papers 17424, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    Over-education Job satisfaction;

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