IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/ijmpps/ijm-02-2021-0100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Overeducation wage penalty among Ph.D. holders: an unconditional quantile regression analysis on Italian data

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta
  • Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera
  • Francesco Pastore

Abstract

Purpose - The wage effect of job–education vertical mismatch (i.e. overeducation) has only recently been investigated in the case of Ph.D. holders. The existing contributions rely on ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates that allow measuring the average effect of being mismatched at the mean of the conditional wage distribution. Design/methodology/approach - The authors implement a recentered influence function (RIF) to estimate the overeducation gap along the entire hourly wage distribution and compare Ph.D. holders who are overeducated with those who are not on a specific sample of Ph.D. holders in different fields of study and European Research Council (ERC) categories. Moreover, the authors compare the overeducation gap between graduates working in the academic and non-academic sector. Findings - The results reveal that overeducation hits the wages of those Ph.D. holders who are employed in the academic sector and in non-research and development (R&D) jobs outside of the academic sector, while no penalty exists among those who carry out R&D activities outside the academia. The size of the penalty is higher among those who are in the mid-top of the wage distribution and hold a Social Science and Humanities specialization. Practical implications - Two policies could reduce the probability of overeducation: (a) a reallocation of Ph.D. grants from low to high demand fields of study and (b) the diffusion of industrial over academic Ph.Ds. Originality/value - This paper observes the heterogeneity of the overeducation penalty along the wage distribution and according to Ph.D. holders' study field and sector of employment (academic/non-academic).

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2022. "Overeducation wage penalty among Ph.D. holders: an unconditional quantile regression analysis on Italian data," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 44(6), pages 1096-1117, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijmpps:ijm-02-2021-0100
    DOI: 10.1108/IJM-02-2021-0100
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJM-02-2021-0100/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJM-02-2021-0100/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/IJM-02-2021-0100?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio Di Paolo & Ferran Mañé, 2016. "Misusing our talent? Overeducation, overskilling and skill underutilisation among Spanish PhD graduates," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 27(4), pages 432-452, December.
    2. Marco Pecoraro, 2014. "Is There Still a Wage Penalty for Being Overeducated But Well-matched in Skills? A Panel Data Analysis of a Swiss Graduate Cohort," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(3), pages 309-337, September.
    3. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2018. "Overeducation at a Glance. Determinants and Wage Effects of the Educational Mismatch Based on AlmaLaurea Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 999-1032, June.
    4. Juan J. Dolado & Marcel Jansen & Juan F. Jimeno, 2009. "On‐the‐Job Search in a Matching Model with Heterogeneous Jobs and Workers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(534), pages 200-228, January.
    5. Duncan, Greg J. & Hoffman, Saul D., 1981. "The incidence and wage effects of overeducation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 75-86, February.
    6. Leuven, Edwin & Oosterbeek, Hessel, 2011. "Overeducation and Mismatch in the Labor Market," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 283-326, Elsevier.
    7. Dolton, Peter J. & Silles, Mary A., 2008. "The effects of over-education on earnings in the graduate labour market," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 125-139, April.
    8. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2016. "Much ado about nothing? The wage penalty of holding a Ph.D. degree but not a Ph.D. job position," Discussion Papers 7_2016, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    9. Cathelijn J F Waaijer & Hans Sonneveld & Simone E Buitendijk & Cornelis A van Bochove & Inge C M van der Weijden, 2016. "The Role of Gender in the Employment, Career Perception and Research Performance of Recent PhD Graduates from Dutch Universities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, October.
    10. McGuinness, Seamus & Bennett, Jessica, 2007. "Overeducation in the graduate labour market: A quantile regression approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 521-531, October.
    11. Fortin, Nicole & Lemieux, Thomas & Firpo, Sergio, 2011. "Decomposition Methods in Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 1, pages 1-102, Elsevier.
    12. Bijan J. Borah & Anirban Basu, 2013. "Highlighting Differences Between Conditional And Unconditional Quantile Regression Approaches Through An Application To Assess Medication Adherence," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(9), pages 1052-1070, September.
    13. Laudeline Auriol, 2010. "Careers of Doctorate Holders: Employment and Mobility Patterns," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2010/4, OECD Publishing.
    14. Keith A. Bender & Kristen Roche, 2018. "Educational mismatch and the earnings distribution," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(2), pages 441-456, October.
    15. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2017. "Much Ado about Nothing? The Wage Penalty of Holding a PhD Degree but Not a PhD Job Position☆," Research in Labor Economics, in: Skill Mismatch in Labor Markets, volume 45, pages 243-277, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    16. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta, 2015. "Was it worth it? An empirical analysis of over-education among PhD recipients in Italy," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(3), pages 222-238, March.
    17. 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.
    18. Freeman, Richard B. & Goroff, Daniel L (ed.), 2009. "Science and Engineering Careers in the United States," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226261898, October.
    19. Dieter Verhaest & Eddy Omey, 2012. "Overeducation, Undereducation and Earnings: Further Evidence on the Importance of Ability and Measurement Error Bias," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 76-90, March.
    20. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta, 2013. "Matching Advanced Studies to the Skills Required for Work: The Case of PhD. Graduates in Italy," Economia dei Servizi, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 177-188.
    21. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    22. Nuria S�nchez-S�nchez & Seamus McGuinness, 2015. "Decomposing the impacts of overeducation and overskilling on earnings and job satisfaction: an analysis using REFLEX data," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 419-432, August.
    23. Barbara Ermini & Luca Papi & Francesca Scaturro, 2017. "An Analysis of the Determinants of Over-Education Among Italian Ph.D Graduates," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(2), pages 167-207, July.
    24. Sara Flisi & Valentina Goglio & Elena Claudia Meroni & Margarida Rodrigues & Esperanza Vera-Toscano, 2017. "Measuring Occupational Mismatch: Overeducation and Overskill in Europe—Evidence from PIAAC," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 1211-1249, April.
    25. Aina, Carmen & Pastore, Francesco, 2012. "Delayed Graduation and Overeducation: A Test of the Human Capital Model versus the Screening Hypothesis," IZA Discussion Papers 6413, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    26. Freeman, Richard B, 1976. "Individual Mobility and Union Voice in the Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 361-368, May.
    27. Simona Iammarino & Elisabetta Marinelli, 2015. "Education-Job (Mis)Match and Interregional Migration: Italian University Graduates' Transition to Work," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 866-882, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luca Bonacini & Giovanni Gallo & Sergio Scicchitano, 2021. "Working from home and income inequality: risks of a ‘new normal’ with COVID-19," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 303-360, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. François Rycx & Giulia Santosuosso & Guillaume Vermeylen, 2022. "The over-education wage penalty among PhD holders: a European perspective," Working Papers CEB 22-009, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2022. "The Effect of Job–Education Vertical Mismatch on Wages Among Recent PhD Graduates: Evidence From an Instrumental Variable Analysis," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 8(1), pages 197-225, March.
    3. Barbara Ermini & Luca Papi & Francesca Scaturro, 2017. "An Analysis of the Determinants of Over-Education Among Italian Ph.D Graduates," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(2), pages 167-207, July.
    4. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2018. "Overeducation at a Glance. Determinants and Wage Effects of the Educational Mismatch Based on AlmaLaurea Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 999-1032, June.
    5. Alfano, Vincenzo & D'Uva, Marcella & De Simone, Elina & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio, 2019. "Should I stay or should I go? Migration and job-skills mismatch among Italian doctoral recipients," GLO Discussion Paper Series 340, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Antonio Di Paolo & Ferran Mañé, 2016. "Misusing our talent? Overeducation, overskilling and skill underutilisation among Spanish PhD graduates," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 27(4), pages 432-452, December.
    7. Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe & Pastore, Francesco, 2016. "Much Ado About Nothing? The Wage Effect of Holding a Ph.D. Degree But Not a Ph.D. Job Position," IZA Discussion Papers 10051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2016. "Much ado about nothing? The wage penalty of holding a Ph.D. degree but not a Ph.D. job position," Discussion Papers 7_2016, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    9. Marco Pecoraro, 2014. "Is There Still a Wage Penalty for Being Overeducated But Well-matched in Skills? A Panel Data Analysis of a Swiss Graduate Cohort," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(3), pages 309-337, September.
    10. Sellami Sana & Verhaest Dieter & Nonneman Walter & Van Trier Walter, 2017. "The Impact of Educational Mismatches on Wages: The Influence of Measurement Error and Unobserved Heterogeneity," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Sucharita Ghosh & Emanuele Grassi, 2020. "Overeducation and overskilling in the early careers of PhD graduates: Does international migration reduce labour market mismatch?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(4), pages 915-944, August.
    12. Yih‐chyi Chuang & Chia‐Yu Liang, 2022. "Overeducation and skill mismatch of university graduates in Taiwan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1693-1712, August.
    13. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2012. "Overeducation at a glance. Determinants and wage effects of the educational mismatch, looking at the AlmaLaurea data," Discussion Papers 18_2012, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    14. Antonio Di Paolo & Ferran Mañé, 2014. "Are we wasting our talent? Overqualification and overskilling among PhD graduates," Working Papers XREAP2014-06, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Jun 2014.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Inmaculada Garc�a-Mainar & V�ctor M. Montuenga-G�mez, 2017. "Subjective educational mismatch and signalling in Spain," Documentos de Trabajo dt2017-03, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Zaragoza.
    18. Mariana Olga De Santis & María Cecilia Gáname & Pedro Esteban Moncarz, 2022. "The Impact of Overeducation on Wages of Recent Economic Sciences Graduates," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 409-445, August.
    19. Joaquin Turmo-Garuz & M.-Teresa Bartual-Figueras & Francisco-Javier Sierra-Martinez, 2019. "Factors Associated with Overeducation Among Recent Graduates During Labour Market Integration: The Case of Catalonia (Spain)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 1273-1301, August.
    20. Wen, Le & Maani, Sholeh A., 2023. "Earnings Penalty of Educational Mismatch: A Comparison of Alternative Methods of Assessing Over-Education," IZA Discussion Papers 15943, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Job–education mismatch; Overeducation; Wages; Ph.D. holders; Unconditional quantile regression; Italy; C26; I23; I26; J13; J24; J28;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:ijmpps:ijm-02-2021-0100. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.