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Over education among older workers: impact on wages and early retirement decisions

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  • Stephen Rubb

Abstract

As baby boomers approach the later years of their careers and potentially face early retirement decisions, it is worth remembering that their average level of schooling exceeds that of all previous generations. Accordingly, this paper examines the effects of overeducation on wages and early retirement decisions. The impact of overeducation on the wages of older workers is remarkably similar to that found in younger cohorts. With regards to the retirement decision, the literature suggests a link between overeducation and job dissatisfaction and a separate link between job dissatisfaction and early retirement. However, overeducation late in one's career may not be reflective of genuine skill mismatches or job dissatisfaction if skill mismatches occur. If overeducation has any impact on the likelihood of early retirement it is small as the empirical analysis finds no such evidence

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  • Stephen Rubb, 2009. "Over education among older workers: impact on wages and early retirement decisions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(16), pages 1621-1626.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:16:y:2009:i:16:p:1621-1626
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850701604052
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    1. Mario Schnalzenberger & Nicole Schneeweis & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Martina Zweimüller, 2014. "Job Quality and Employment of Older People in Europe," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(2), pages 141-162, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Keith A. Bender & John S. Heywood, 2017. "Educational mismatch and retirement," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 347-365, July.
    4. Deng, Hong & Guan, Yanjun & Wu, Chia-Huei & Erdogan, Berrin & Bauer, Talya & Yao, Xiang, 2018. "A relational model of perceived overqualification: the moderating role of interpersonal influence on social acceptance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 67547, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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