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Was it worth it? An empirical analysis of over-education among PhD recipients in Italy

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  • Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta

Abstract

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical examination of factors associated with over-education among PhD graduates in Italy. Design/methodology/approach - – The investigation is based on recently released data collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics by means of interviews with a large sample of PhD recipients, carried out a few years after they obtained their PhD degree. The author measured the mismatch between the current job and previous PhD studies using two direct subjective evaluations of over-education, which distinguish between the usefulness of the PhD title to get the current job position and to perform the current work activities. Even if the incidence of over-education varies according to the measurement applied, the author found that it is highly widespread among PhD recipients. The econometric analyses are aimed at identifying factors associated with over-education and are based on the standard probit model and the bivariate probit model with sample selection which allows to control for self selection into employment. Findings - – The results show that over-education is significantly correlated with: first, a number of PhD-related variables, such as the scientific field of study, having attended courses or visiting periods abroad; second, some job-related characteristics, such as working in the academia or being mainly involved in research-related activities; third, the channel of access to the job; and fourth, residential location. Originality/value - – This paper contributes to the literature focusing on job-education mismatch by providing, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first empirical analysis of over-education among PhD recipients in Italy; moreover, it provides some useful insights to evaluate the professional doctoral graduates in Italy.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijsepp:v:42:y:2015:i:3:p:222-238
    DOI: 10.1108/IJSE-08-2013-0186
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    Cited by:

    1. Barbara Ermini & Luca Papi & Francesca Scaturro, 2022. "Over-education and the great recession. The case of Italian Ph.D graduates," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 76(3), pages 17-28, July-Sept.
    2. Alfano, Vincenzo & D'Uva, Marcella & De Simone, Elina & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio, 2019. "Should I stay or should I go? Migration and job-skills mismatch among Italian doctoral recipients," GLO Discussion Paper Series 340, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Joaquin Turmo-Garuz & M.-Teresa Bartual-Figueras & Francisco-Javier Sierra-Martinez, 2019. "Factors Associated with Overeducation Among Recent Graduates During Labour Market Integration: The Case of Catalonia (Spain)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 1273-1301, August.
    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. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2016. "Much ado about nothing? The wage penalty of holding a Ph.D. degree but not a Ph.D. job position," Discussion Papers 7_2016, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    7. Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe & Pastore, Francesco, 2016. "Much Ado About Nothing? The Wage Effect of Holding a Ph.D. Degree But Not a Ph.D. Job Position," IZA Discussion Papers 10051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Antonio Di Paolo & Ferran Mañé, 2016. "Misusing our talent? Overeducation, overskilling and skill underutilisation among Spanish PhD graduates," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 27(4), pages 432-452, December.
    9. 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.
    10. S. Fasola & O. Giambalvo & C. Romano, 2016. "Flexible latent trait aggregation to analyze employability after the Ph.D. in Italy," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 180-194, January.
    11. Corina CARA & Tudor TOCILA & Adriana ZAIT, 2015. "Exploring Phd Students’ Concerns Regarding Doctoral Programs In Economics And Business Administration," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 15, pages 33-43, June.
    12. Barbara Ermini & Luca Papi & Francesca Scaturro, 2016. "Over-education among italian Ph.D. graduates. Does the crisis make a difference?," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 126, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    13. Sucharita Ghosh & Emanuele Grassi, 2020. "Overeducation and overskilling in the early careers of PhD graduates: Does international migration reduce labour market mismatch?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(4), pages 915-944, August.
    14. 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.
    15. Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Francesco Pastore, 2022. "The Effect of Job–Education Vertical Mismatch on Wages Among Recent PhD Graduates: Evidence From an Instrumental Variable Analysis," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 8(1), pages 197-225, March.
    16. Alfano, Vincenzo & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Pinto, Mauro & Rotondo, Francesca & Vecchione, Gaetano, 2021. "La dinamica dell’offerta di formazione dottorale dopo la riforma Gelmini [Ph.D. courses in Italy after the Gelmini Reform]," MPRA Paper 108144, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Dsouza, Alwin & Mishra, Ashok. K., 2016. "Adoption and Abandonment of Conservation Technologies in Developing Economies: The Case of South Asia," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235243, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. D’Souza, Alwin & Mishra, Ashok K., 2018. "Adoption and Abandonment of Partial Conservation Technologies in Developing Economies: The Case of South Asia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 212-223.

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