Wage inequality and overeducation in a model with efficiency wages

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Wage inequality and overeducation in a model with efficiency wages

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Peter Skott () (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

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Peter Skott

Abstract

This paper shows that the existence and persistence of ‘overeducation’ can be explained by an extension of the efficiency wage model. When calibrated to fit the amounts of overeducation found in most empirical studies, the model implies that both the relative wage and the relative employment rate of high-skill workers depend inversely on aggregate economic activity. Keeping aggregate employment constant, furthermore, low-skill unemployment rises following an increase in the relative supply of high-skill labor, and relative wages may be insensitive to changes in relative labor supplies. The model may help explain rising wage inequality in some countries since the early 1970s. JEL Categories: J31

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Paper provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 2005-06.

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Date of creation: Feb 2005
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Handle: RePEc:ums:papers:2005-06

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Article
- Peter Skott, 2006. "Wage inequality and overeducation in a model with efficiency wages," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 39(1), pages 94-123, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2005-03-06 (All new papers)
NEP-LAB-2005-03-06 (Labour Economics)

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.:

F Green & S McIntosh & A Vignoles, 1999. "Overeducation and Skills - Clarifying the Concepts," CEP Discussion Papers 0435, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
Skott, Peter, 2005. "Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 305-331, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Peter Skott, 2004. "Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages," Working Papers 2004-04, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
- Skott, Peter, . "Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages," Economics Working Papers 2003-6, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
Kimball, Miles S, 1994. "Labor-Market Dynamics When Unemployment is a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 1045-59, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Miles S. Kimball, 1989. "Labor Market Dynamics When Unemployment Is A Worker Discipline Device," NBER Working Papers 2967, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Daly, Mary C. & Buchel, Felix & Duncan, Greg J., 2000. "Premiums and penalties for surplus and deficit education: Evidence from the United States and Germany," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 169-178, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Akerlof, George A, 1982. "Labor Contracts as Partial Gift Exchange," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 97(4), pages 543-69, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
David Card & Francis Kramarz & Thomas Lemieux, 1999. "Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(4), pages 843-877, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- David Card & Francis Kramarz & Thomas Lemieux, 1995. "Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France," Working Papers 734, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
- David Card & Francis Kramarz & Thomas Lemieux, 1996. "Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France," NBER Working Papers 5487, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-44, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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)
F Green & A Felstead & D Gallie, 2000. "Computers are even more important than you thought: An Analysis of the changing skill-intensity of jobs," CEP Discussion Papers 0439, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
Hersch, Joni, 1991. "Education Match and Job Match," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(1), pages 140-44, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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)
Bowles, Samuel, 1985. "The Production Process in a Competitive Economy: Walrasian, Neo-Hobbesian, and Marxian Models," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 16-36, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Peter Skott & Paul Auerbach, 2004. "Wage inequality and skill asymmetries," Working Papers 2004-03, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
Sicherman, Nachum, 1991. ""Overeducation" in the Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(2), pages 101-22, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- 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.

Full references

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.)

Schlicht, Ekkehart, 2007. "Wage Dispersion and Overqualification as Entailed by Reder Competition," Discussion Papers in Economics 1976, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Schlicht, Ekkehart, 2007. "Wage Dispersion and Overqualification as Entailed by Reder Competition," Economics Discussion Papers 2007-22, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. [Downloadable!]

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This page was last updated on 2008-8-27.

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