IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cje/issued/v39y2006i1p94-123.html

Wage inequality and overeducation in a model with efficiency wages

Author

Listed:
  • 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 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 labour, and relative wages may be insensitive to changes in relative labour supplies. The model may help to explain rising wage inequality in some countries since the early 1970s.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:39:y:2006:i:1:p:94-123
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0008-4085.2006.00340.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0008-4085.2006.00340.x
    Download Restriction: access restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.0008-4085.2006.00340.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gustavo Pereira Serra, 2025. "(Trying to) catch up with the higher-skilled Joneses: student loans in a segmented educational market from a post-Keynesian perspective," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 172-203, April.
    2. Baert, Stijn & Cockx, Bart & Verhaest, Dieter, 2013. "Overeducation at the start of the career: Stepping stone or trap?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 123-140.
    3. Gilberto Tadeu Lima & Laura Carvalho, Gustavo Pereira Serra, 2018. "Human Capital Accumulation, Income Distribution and Economic Growth: A Neo-Kaleckian Analytical Framework," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2018_19, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    4. Skott, Peter & Guy, Frederick, 2007. "A model of power-biased technological change," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 124-131, April.
    5. Schlicht, Ekkehart, 2008. "Wage Dispersion, Over-Qualification, and Reder Competition," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy, vol. 1, pages 1-22.
    6. Peter Skott & Frederick Guy, 2005. "Power-Biased Technological Change and the Rise in Earnings Inequality," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2005-17, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    7. Verhaest, Dieter & Schatteman, Tom, 2010. "Overeducation in the early career: an analysis using sequence techniques," Working Papers 2010/09, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    8. Naqvi, Asjad & Stockhammer, Engelbert, 2018. "Directed Technological Change in a Post-Keynesian Ecological Macromodel," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 168-188.
    9. Mary A. Silles, 2007. "Adult Education And Earnings: Evidence From Britain," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 313-326, October.
    10. Fabián Slonimczyk, 2013. "Earnings inequality and skill mismatch in the U.S.: 1973–2002," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(2), pages 163-194, June.
    11. Slonimczyk, Fabián & Skott, Peter, 2012. "Employment and distribution effects of the minimum wage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 245-264.
    12. Wu Joseph S. K. & Ho Chi Pui, 2017. "The Shapiro-Stiglitz Model with Non-constant Marginal Utility," Open Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 36-48, August.
    13. Gustavo Pereira Serra, 2021. "The First Harrod Problem and Human Capital Formation," Working Papers 2113, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:39:y:2006:i:1:p:94-123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Prof. Werner Antweiler (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ceaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.