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Much ado about nothing? The wage penalty of holding a Ph.D. degree but not a Ph.D. job position

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  • Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio
  • Lavadera, Giuseppe Lubrano
  • Pastore, Francesco

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on overeducation by empirically investigating the wage penalty of job-education mismatch among Ph.D. holders who completed their studies in Italy; a country where the number of new doctoral recipients has dramatically increased over recent years while personnel employed in R&D activities is still below the European average. We use cross-sectional micro-data collected in 2009 and rely on different definitions of education-job mismatch such as, overeducation, overskilling and dissatisfaction with the use of skills. We find that overeducation and skills dissatisfaction are associated with significantly lower wages but there is no wage penalty from overskilling. Furthermore, those who simultaneously report overeducation and skills dissatisfaction experience a particularly high wage penalty.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Lavadera, Giuseppe Lubrano & Pastore, Francesco, 2017. "Much ado about nothing? The wage penalty of holding a Ph.D. degree but not a Ph.D. job position," GLO Discussion Paper Series 12, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:12
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    12. Laudeline Auriol, 2010. "Careers of Doctorate Holders: Employment and Mobility Patterns," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2010/4, OECD Publishing.
    13. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta, 2015. "Was it worth it? An empirical analysis of over-education among PhD recipients in Italy," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(3), pages 222-238, March.
    14. Arnaud Chevalier, 2003. "Measuring Over-education," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 70(279), pages 509-531, August.
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    18. Kostas Mavromaras & Seamus McGuinness & Nigel O'Leary & Peter Sloane & Zhang Wei, 2013. "Job Mismatches and Labour Market Outcomes: Panel Evidence on University Graduates," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(286), pages 382-395, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2018. "Overeducation at a Glance. Determinants and Wage Effects of the Educational Mismatch Based on AlmaLaurea Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 999-1032, June.
    2. Giulio Marini, 2021. "The employment destination of PhD-holders in Italy: non-academic funded projects as drivers of successful segmentation," DoQSS Working Papers 21-16, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    3. Pastore, Francesco, 2020. "The quasi-market of employment services in Italy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1248-1269.
    4. Alfano, Vincenzo & Cicatiello, Lorenzo & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Pinto, Mauro, 2019. "The gender wage gap among PhD holders: an empirical examination based on Italian data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 393, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2022. "Overeducation wage penalty among Ph.D. holders: an unconditional quantile regression analysis on Italian data," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 44(6), pages 1096-1117, March.
    6. Rycx, François & Santosuosso, Giulia & Vermeylen, Guillaume, 2022. "The Over-Education Wage Penalty among PhD Holders: A European Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 15417, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Barbara Ermini & Luca Papi & Francesca Scaturro, 2017. "An Analysis of the Determinants of Over-Education Among Italian Ph.D Graduates," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(2), pages 167-207, July.
    8. Alfano Vincenzo & Cicatiello Lorenzo & Gaeta Giuseppe Lucio & Pinto Mauro, 2021. "The Gender Wage Gap among Ph.D. Holders: Evidence from Italy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(3), pages 1107-1148, July.
    9. Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "New Education Models for the Workforce of the Future," IZA Policy Papers 143, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "New Education Models for the Future of Work Force," GLO Discussion Paper Series 267, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job-education mismatch; overeducation; overskilling; job satisfaction; wages; Ph.D. holders;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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