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College wage premiums and skills: a cross-country analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Rolf van der Velden
  • Ineke Bijlsma

Abstract

Workers with a college degree earn substantially more than workers with no such degree. Using recent data from 22 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, we estimate this college wage premium at 28 per cent for male full-time working employees, on average, ranging from 18 per cent in Sweden to 50 per cent in the Slovak Republic. This premium is largely explained by the higher skill levels of graduates from higher education combined with their use of these skills at work, as well as the match with job requirements for this skill proficiency and skill use. We find no effect of labour market institutions (e.g. the employment protection legislation or the coverage rate) on cross-country differences in the college wage premium. However, we find that cross-country variation in this premium is related to the relative supply of higher educated workers. Moreover, we find evidence that cross-country differences in the college wage premium are related to the degree to which educational credentials signal skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Rolf van der Velden & Ineke Bijlsma, 2016. "College wage premiums and skills: a cross-country analysis," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 32(4), pages 497-513.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:32:y:2016:i:4:p:497-513.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/grw027
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Diris, Ron & Van Vliet, Olaf, 2022. "The Relation between Skills and Job Security: Identifying the Contractual Return to Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 15513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Spencer Bastani & Tomer Blumkin & Luca Micheletto, 2021. "Optimal Redistribution in the Presence of Signaling," CESifo Working Paper Series 9210, CESifo.
    3. Nick Huntington-Klein, 2021. "Human capital versus signaling is empirically unresolvable," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(5), pages 2499-2531, May.
    4. David Weisstanner & Klaus Armingeon, 2018. "How Redistributive Policies Reduce Market Inequality: Education Premiums in 22 OECD Countries," LIS Working papers 735, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    college wage premium; skills; skill use; (mis)match; relative supply; signalling; institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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