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Delayed Graduation and Overeducation: A Test of the Human Capital Model versus the Screening Hypothesis

Author

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  • Aina, Carmen

    (University of Piemonte Orientale)

  • Pastore, Francesco

    (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)

Abstract

The academic circles are devoting a growing interest to delayed graduation and overeducation, but none has analyzed the joint consequences of these two phenomena. Thus, this paper studies the link between graduation not within the minimum period and overeducation, and the effects of these variables on wages, using the ISFOL-Plus data. According to the human capital model, delayed graduation increases a student' human capital and should, therefore, reduce her probability of being overeducated, while increasing her wage. According to the screening hypothesis, instead, delayed graduation signals low skills and therefore increases the chances of being overeducated, while bearing a wage penalty. The evidence lines towards predictions based on the screening hypothesis. First, delayed graduation increases the chances of overeducation. In addition, the direct wage penalty associated to delayed graduation equals 7% of the median wage. However, being a determinant of overeducation, it also indirectly contributes to the penalty of 19.8% of the median wage associated to overeducation. These effects are sizeable, considering the very low returns to higher education in Italy reported in previous studies.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6413
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    Cited by:

    1. Marelli Enrico & Sciulli Dario & Signorelli Marcello, 2014. "Skill mismatch of graduates in a local labour market," Экономика региона, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное бюджетное учреждение науки «Институт экономики Уральского отделения Российской академии наук», issue 2, pages 181-194.
    2. Domadenik, Polona & Far?nik, Daša & Pastore, Francesco, 2013. "Horizontal Mismatch in the Labour Market of Graduates: The Role of Signalling," IZA Discussion Papers 7527, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. 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.
    4. Andrea Diem & Stefan C. Wolter, 2014. "Overeducation among Swiss university graduates: determinants and consequences [Nicht ausbildungsadäquate Beschäftigung bei Universitätsabsolventinnen und -absolventen – Determinanten und Konsequenz," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(4), pages 313-328, December.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Massimiliano Agovino & Antonio Garofalo, 2016. "The Impact of Education on Wage Determination between Workers in Southern and Central-Northern Italy," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 63(1), pages 25-43, March.
    8. 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).
    9. L. Cattani & G. Guidetti & G. Pedrini, 2014. "Assessing the incidence and wage effects of overeducation among Italian graduates using a new measure for educational requirements," Working Papers wp939, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    10. Corinna Ghirelli & Enkelejda Havari & Giulia Santangelo & Marta Scettri, 2019. "Does on-the-job training help graduates find a job? Evidence from an Italian region," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 500-524, February.
    11. Luca Cattani & Giovanni Guidetti & Giulio Pedrini, 2018. "Overeducation among Italian graduates: do different measures diverge?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(2), pages 491-521, August.
    12. Massimiliano Agovino & Francesco Busato, 2017. "From college to labor market: a transition indicator for Italian universities," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 2577-2604, November.
    13. Doon, Roshnie & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2024. "The Returns to Education and the Wage Effect from Overeducation in Trinidad and Tobago: A Pseudo-Panel Approach," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1431, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Dirk Witteveen & Paul Attewell, 2021. "Delayed Time-to-Degree and Post-college Earnings," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(2), pages 230-257, March.
    15. Esposito, Piero & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2020. "Educational mismatches, technological change and unemployment: evidence from secondary and tertiary educated workers," GLO Discussion Paper Series 465, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2012. "Talking about the Pigou paradox," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(1), pages 27-50, March.
    17. Sam Jones & Ricardo Santos & Gimelgo Xirinda, 2020. "Misinformed, mismatched, or misled?: Explaining the gap between expected and realized graduate earnings in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-47, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Giulia Martina Tanzi, 2023. "Scars of Youth Non-employment and Labour Market Conditions," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(2), pages 475-499, July.
    19. Susanna Sten-Gahmberg, 2020. "Student Heterogeneity and Financial Incentives in Graduate Education: Evidence from a Student Aid Reform," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 543-580, Summer.
    20. Caroleo, Floro Ernesto & Pastore, Francesco, 2015. "Overeducation: A Disease of the School-to-Work Transition System," IZA Discussion Papers 9049, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    university-to-work transition; delayed graduation; overeducation; human capital theory; screening hypothesis; earnings equations; Italy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - 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

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