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Field-of-study mismatch and overqualification: labour market correlates and their wage penalty

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  • Guillermo Montt

    (International Labour Office)

Abstract

Field-of-study mismatch occurs when a worker, trained in a particular field, works in another field. This study draws on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) to explore how skill supply and labour market demand dynamics influence mismatch. It updates cross-national estimates on mismatch and estimates the mismatch wage penalty. Findings suggest that around 40% of workers are mismatched by field at their qualification level, 11% overqualified in their field and 13% overqualified and working outside their field. The saturation of the field in the labour market and the transferability of the fields’ skills predict the incidence of field-of-study mismatch and overqualification. Workers who are mismatched by field only suffer a wage penalty if they are overqualified.

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  • Guillermo Montt, 2017. "Field-of-study mismatch and overqualification: labour market correlates and their wage penalty," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izalbr:v:6:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40172-016-0052-x
    DOI: 10.1186/s40172-016-0052-x
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    21. Fernando Rios-Avila & Fabiola Saavedra Caballero, 2019. "It Pays to Study for the Right Job: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Education-Occupation Job Mismatch," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_922, Levy Economics Institute.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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