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Graduate Over-Education as a Sheepskin Effect: Evidence From Northern Ireland

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Author Info
McGuinness, Seamus (Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre)

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Abstract

This paper examines the nature of graduate over-education amongst a group of applicants to a graduate conversion programme. It was found that whilst a substantial proportion of earnings differentials were associated with a mismatch between individual skill levels and job requirements, wage gaps were still likely to occur should such mismatches be eliminated. The evidence suggests that graduate wage levels are heavily related to sheepskin effects associated with the attainment of jobs with graduate level entry requirements. These sheepskin effects suggest that the process of job categorisation is arbitrary in nature, with stated job requirements somewhat independent of actual skill requirements. The analysis suggests that graduate over-education is better understood within the context of both skill and categorisation mismatches as opposed to skill matches alone

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland in its series Working Papers NIERC. with number 70.

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Length: 28 pages
Date of creation: May 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:eri:niercp:70

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Related research
Keywords: LABOUR MARKET ; TRAINING ; EDUCATION;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Jaeger, David A & Page, Marianne E, 1996. "Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin Effects in the Returns to Education," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(4), pages 733-40, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Hartog, Joop & Oosterbeek, Hessel, 1988. "Education, allocation and earnings in the Netherlands: 0verschooling?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 185-194, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Heckman, James J, 1979. "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(1), pages 153-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Dolton, Peter & Vignoles, Anna, 2000. "The incidence and effects of overeducation in the U.K. graduate labour market," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 179-198, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    Other versions:
  6. McGuinness, S., 2001. "Private Sector Post Graduate Training and Graduate Under-Employment," Working Papers NIERC. 64, Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland. [Downloadable!]
  7. Duncan, Greg J. & Hoffman, Saul D., 1981. "The incidence and wage effects of overeducation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 75-86, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Sloane, P J & Battu, H & Seaman, P T, 1999. "Overeducation, Undereducation and the British Labour Market," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 31(11), pages 1437-53, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Nachum Sicherman, 1987. "Over-Education in the Labor Market," University of Chicago - George G. Stigler Center for Study of Economy and State 48, Chicago - Center for Study of Economy and State.
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  10. Arnaud Chevalier, 2000. "Graduate over-education in the UK," CEE Discussion Papers 0007, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  11. Colm Harmon & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2000. "The Returns to Education: A Review of Evidence, Issues and Deficiencies in the Literature," CEE Discussion Papers 0005, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  12. Groot, Wim & Maassen van den Brink, Henriette, 2000. "Overeducation in the labor market: a meta-analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 149-158, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Sattinger, Michael, 1993. "Assignment Models of the Distribution of Earnings," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 831-80, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Hilmer, Michael J., 2001. "A comparison of alternative specifications of the college attendance equation with an extension to two-stage selectivity-correction models," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 263-278, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Cohn, Elchanan & Khan, Shahina P., 1995. "The wage effects of overschooling revisited," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 67-76, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Puhani, Patrick A, 2000. " The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique," Journal of Economic Surveys, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 53-68, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Borooah, Vani K., 1999. "Is there a penalty to being a Catholic in Northern Ireland: an econometric analysis of the relationship between religious belief and occupational success1," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 163-192, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Pilar Olave & Manuel Salvador, 2006. "The efficacy of university training programmes: a semi-parametric Bayesian approach," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 13(8), pages 511-518, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. McGuinness Seamus, 2003. "University Quality and Labour Market Outcomes," Working Papers NIERC. 78, Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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