IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v100y2021ics0264999321001140.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Educational mismatch and income inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Tang, Rongsheng
  • Wang, Gaowang

Abstract

We build a model to understand educational mismatch and income inequality among highly educated workers. For occupations and workers with college majors, educational mismatch negatively impacts wage but positively correlates with wage inequality. We examine different channels that contribute to wage inequality by identifying three underlying reasons behind the mismatch, namely, preference, promotion, and search friction and quantifying their impacts. Quantitatively, preference and promotion negatively contribute to an inequality increase from 1990 to 2000; match premium and search friction contribute to a 28.4% and 5.3% increase in inequality, respectively. We conclude that educational mismatch significantly affects income inequality and that this impact varies based on the underlying reasons. The study has important policy implications as it shows that policies for improving education match rate and educational signaling and less market friction can reduce wage inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Tang, Rongsheng & Wang, Gaowang, 2021. "Educational mismatch and income inequality," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:100:y:2021:i:c:s0264999321001140
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2021.105525
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999321001140
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2021.105525?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Desjardins & Kjell Rubenson, 2011. "An Analysis of Skill Mismatch Using Direct Measures of Skills," OECD Education Working Papers 63, OECD Publishing.
    2. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang & Gabriel Zucman, 2019. "Capital Accumulation, Private Property, and Rising Inequality in China, 1978–2015," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2469-2496, July.
    3. Jeremy Lise & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2020. "Multidimensional Skills, Sorting, and Human Capital Accumulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(8), pages 2328-2376, August.
    4. Joseph G. Altonji & Lisa B. Kahn & Jamin D. Speer, 2014. "Trends in Earnings Differentials across College Majors and the Changing Task Composition of Jobs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 387-393, May.
    5. Nordin, Martin & Persson, Inga & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2010. "Education-occupation mismatch: Is there an income penalty?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 1047-1059, December.
    6. Berliant, Marcus & Reed III, Robert R. & Wang, Ping, 2006. "Knowledge exchange, matching, and agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 69-95, July.
    7. Rongsheng Tang & Yang Tang & Ping Wang, 2020. "Within-Job Wage Inequality: Performance Pay and Job Relatedness," NBER Working Papers 27390, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jae Song & David J Price & Fatih Guvenen & Nicholas Bloom & Till von Wachter, 2019. "Firming Up Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 1-50.
    9. Giovanni L. Violante, 2002. "Technological Acceleration, Skill Transferability, and the Rise in Residual Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 297-338.
    10. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Inequality in the long run," PSE - Labex "OSE-Ouvrir la Science Economique" halshs-01053609, HAL.
    11. Fatih Guvenen & Burhan Kuruscu & Satoshi Tanaka & David Wiczer, 2020. "Multidimensional Skill Mismatch," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 210-244, January.
    12. Ritter, Joseph A. & West, Kristine L., 2014. "Field of Study and Earnings Inequality among the Highly Educated: 1993-2010," Miscellaneous Publications 195683, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    13. Arcidiacono, Peter, 2004. "Ability sorting and the returns to college major," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 343-375.
    14. Russell Cooper & Huacong Liu, 2019. "Mismatch In Human Capital Accumulation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1291-1328, August.
    15. Thomas Lemieux, 2006. "Increasing Residual Wage Inequality: Composition Effects, Noisy Data, or Rising Demand for Skill?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 461-498, June.
    16. Thomas Lemieux, 2014. "Occupations, fields of study and returns to education," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1047-1077, November.
    17. Gil, Pedro Mazeda & Gabriel, Susana & Afonso, Oscar, 2020. "Is the skills mismatch important under skill-biased technological change and imperfect substitutability between immigrants and natives?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 38-54.
    18. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
    19. Freeman, James A. & Hirsch, Barry T., 2008. "College majors and the knowledge content of jobs," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 517-535, October.
    20. Robst, John, 2007. "Education and job match: The relatedness of college major and work," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 397-407, August.
    21. Guironnet, J.-P. & Peypoch, N., 2007. "Human capital allocation and overeducation: A measure of French productivity (1987, 1999)," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 398-410, May.
    22. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2008. "Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 300-323, May.
    23. Ariel Burstein & Eduardo Morales & Jonathan Vogel, 2015. "Accounting for Changes in Between-Group Inequality," NBER Working Papers 20855, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Gueorgui Kambourov & Iourii Manovskii, 2009. "Occupational Mobility and Wage Inequality," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(2), pages 731-759.
    25. repec:eee:labchp:v:1:y:1986:i:c:p:641-692 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee & Yongseok Shin & Donghoon Lee, 2015. "The Option Value of Human Capital: Higher Education and Wage Inequality," NBER Working Papers 21724, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Kevin X.D. Huang, 2019. "Growth and Cycles in China's Unbalanced Development: Resource Misallocation, Debt Overhang, Economic Inequality, and the Importance of Structural Reforms," Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities, Higher Education Press, vol. 14(1), pages 53-71, March.
    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. Pan, Zheng & Lien, Donald & Wang, Hao, 2022. "Peer effects and shadow education," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Kim, Hyoungjong & Rhee, Dong-Eun, 2022. "The effects of asset prices on income inequality: Redistribution policy does matter," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Keneck-Massil, Joseph & Nomo-Beyala, Clery & Owoundi, Ferdinand, 2021. "The corruption and income inequality puzzle: Does political power distribution matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

    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. Tang, Rongsheng & Wang, Gaowang, 2021. "Educational mismatch and earnings inequality," MPRA Paper 106953, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Rongsheng Tang & Yang Tang & Ping Wang, 2020. "Within-Job Wage Inequality: Performance Pay and Job Relatedness," NBER Working Papers 27390, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Thomas Lemieux, 2014. "Occupations, fields of study and returns to education," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 1047-1077, November.
    4. Jiang, Shengjun & Guo, Yilan, 2022. "Reasons for college major-job mismatch and labor market outcomes: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Finance and the reallocation of scientific, engineering and mathematical talent," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/510i09nqpa8gfpt7na72sknq4q is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Martin Biewen & Matthias Seckler, 2019. "Unions, Internationalization, Tasks, Firms, and Worker Characteristics: A Detailed Decomposition Analysis of Rising Wage Inequality in Germany," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 461-498, December.
    8. Khan, Bilal Muhammad, 2019. "Education Occupation Mismatch in Developing countries," MPRA Paper 92324, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Theodore Koutmeridis, 2013. "The Market for "Rough Diamonds": Information, Finance and Wage Inequality," CDMA Working Paper Series 201307, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised 14 Oct 2013.
    10. Dirk Antonczyk & Thomas DeLeire & Bernd Fitzenberger, 2018. "Polarization and Rising Wage Inequality: Comparing the U.S. and Germany," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-33, April.
    11. Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner & Paul Sullivan, 2019. "Job Tasks, Time Allocation, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(2), pages 399-433.
    12. Holger M. Mueller & Paige P. Ouimet & Elena Simintzi, 2015. "Wage Inequality and Firm Growth," LIS Working papers 632, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    13. David Hémous & Morten Olsen, 2022. "The Rise of the Machines: Automation, Horizontal Innovation, and Income Inequality," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 179-223, January.
    14. Daniel Baumgarten & Gabriel Felbermayr & Sybille Lehwald, 2020. "Dissecting Between‐Plant and Within‐Plant Wage Dispersion: Evidence from Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 85-122, January.
    15. Magda, Iga & Gromadzki, Jan & Moriconi, Simone, 2021. "Firms and wage inequality in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 499-552.
    16. Maarten Goos & Melanie Arntz & Ulrich Zierahn & Terry Gregory & Stephanie Carretero Gomez & Ignacio Gonzalez Vazquez & Koen Jonkers, 2019. "The Impact of Technological Innovation on the Future of Work," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2019-03, Joint Research Centre.
    17. Reis, Mauricio, 2018. "Measuring the mismatch between field of study and occupation using a task-based approach," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 52(1), pages 1-9.
    18. Hadavand, Aboozar & Thomas, Sarah M & Almasi, Pooya & Gharehgozli, Orkideh, 2019. "Relevance of Education to Occupation: A New Empirical Approach Based on College Courses," OSF Preprints 8ysgz, Center for Open Science.
    19. Biewen, Martin & Seckler, Matthias, 2017. "Changes in the German Wage Structure: Unions, Internationalization, Tasks, Firms, and Worker Characteristics," IZA Discussion Papers 10763, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. David H. Autor, 2019. "Work of the Past, Work of the Future," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 1-32, May.
    21. Hugh Cassidy & Amanda Gaulke, 2024. "The increasing penalty to occupation‐education mismatch," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(2), pages 607-632, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational mismatch; Income inequality; Wage effect; Search friction; Promotion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • 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
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    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:eee:ecmode:v:100:y:2021:i:c:s0264999321001140. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    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.