Scarcity of science and engineering (S&E) graduates could potentially call for government intervention, because of the role of S&E's in R&D, and because R&D in turn is characterised by positive spillovers. In this report, we investigate whether policies that stimulate enrolment in S&E-studies are effective at increasing R&D-activity. First, we analyse the situation on the Dutch labour market for S&E graduates. We do not find evidence for scarcity of S&E graduates. Rather, the labour market position vis-à-vis other graduates weakened. A possible explanation to reconcile this conclusion with a widely felt concern of S&E shortages among employers is increasing internationalisation of the S&E labour market. Concerning policy, we argue that expanding the stock of S&E graduates is not very effective for boosting R&D activity. More than half the number of S&E graduates do not end up working in R&D. De increasing internationalisation of the S&E labour market can diminish the attractiveness of S&E courses.
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Paper provided by CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis in its series CPB Documents with number
92.
Find related papers by JEL classification: O38 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Government Policy J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
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