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Inefficient self-selection into education and wage inequality

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  • Ordine, Patrizia
  • Rose, Giuseppe

Abstract

This paper proposes a theoretical framework where within graduates wage inequality is related to overeducation/educational mismatch in the labor market. We show that wage inequality may arise because of inefficient self-selection into education in the presence of ability-complementary technological progress and asymmetric information on individuals' ability. In this setting, a crucial role is played by educational quality since it determines the signaling mechanisms in the labor market. We report some empirical evidence on the impact of mismatch, individual ability, family background, and university features on wages of Italian graduates and we suggest the importance of considering education quality as a policy instrument for reducing educational mismatch and wage inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Ordine, Patrizia & Rose, Giuseppe, 2011. "Inefficient self-selection into education and wage inequality," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 582-597, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:30:y:2011:i:4:p:582-597
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    Cited by:

    1. Masashi Tanaka, 2020. "Human capital investment, credentialing, and wage differentials," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(4), pages 992-1016, August.
    2. Giuseppe Croce & Emanuela Ghignoni, 2011. "Overeducation and spatial flexibility in Italian local labour markets," Working Papers in Public Economics 145, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    3. Nick Deschacht, 2017. "Part-Time Work and Women’s Careers: a Decomposition of the Gender Promotion Gap," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 169-186, June.
    4. Patrizia Ordine & Giuseppe Rose, 2014. "Too Many Graduates? A Theory Of (Efficient) Educational Mismatch And Evidence From A Quasi-Natural Experiment," Working Papers 201409, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    5. Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Larouche, Alexandre & Trandafir, Mircea, 2015. "Quality of Higher Education and the Labor Market in Developing Countries: Evidence from an Education Reform in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 412-424.
    6. Patrizia Ordine & Giuseppe Rose, 2017. "Individual Mismatch and Aggregate Overeducation: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(1), pages 1-23, March.
    7. 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.
    8. Yue Yu & Chengkui Liu, 2023. "Pre-market discrimination or post-market discrimination: research on inequality of opportunity for labor income in China," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(5), pages 2291-2313, May.
    9. Rose, Giuseppe, 2013. "Endogenous ranking in a two-sector urn-ball matching process," Economics Discussion Papers 2013-40, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Ghignoni, Emanuela & Verashchagina, Alina, 2014. "Educational qualifications mismatch in Europe. Is it demand or supply driven?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 670-692.
    11. Patrizia Ordine & Giuseppe Rose, 2011. "Educational Mismatch and Wait Unemployment," Working Papers 19, AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium.
    12. Maqbool H. Sial & Ghulam Sarwar & Mubashra Saeed, 2019. "Surplus Education and Earnings Differentials in Pakistan: A Quantile Regression Analysis," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 93-114, July-Dec.
    13. Emanuela Ghignoni, 2011. "Young workers' overeducation and cohort effects in P.I.G.S. countries versus the Netherlands: a pseudo-panel analysis," Working Papers in Public Economics 147, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    14. Wu, Na & Wang, Qunyong, 2018. "Wage penalty of overeducation: New micro-evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 206-217.
    15. Masashi Tanaka, 2013. "Human Capital Investment, Credentialing, and Wage Differentials," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 13-31-Rev., Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics, revised Aug 2017.
    16. Patrizia Ordine & Giuseppe Rose, 2015. "The effect of family background, university quality and educational mismatch on wage: an analysis using a young cohort of Italian graduates," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 213-237, April.

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